


One and Only

by The_Fairy_Godmother



Category: Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series
Genre: College/University, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Family Angst, First Kiss, First Love, Gen, I know very little about hockey, My first fandom from many years ago, Organized Crime, Other, cross species lovin'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-06-01 17:57:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15148676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fairy_Godmother/pseuds/The_Fairy_Godmother
Summary: This was my first fandom many years ago.  Too many years ago.After so many years of living in another dimension together, the Ducks have tried to get on with their lives.  But, it is hard, especially when something or someone keeps on drawing your thoughts back to what was left behind.





	1. Chapter One

Chapter One

The house was lit all around so it looked like something out of a fairy tale.  There were fairy lights in the trees and bushes all around the house and the driveway.  It was illuminating the spring snow that was still on the ground giving everything a supernatural aura.  In the enormous back garden there was a large, pristine white, marquee that was lit by the same soft light with soft orchestra music coming from inside, filling the air and having a very magical effect on the night.  The house itself was very grand, and even from outside looked so very warm and inviting that the young female mallard sitting in the tree just outside its gates was desperate to be inside.  If only for a minute.

The girl was barely ten years old but she had seen and lived through so much.  Her green eyes were so expressive and at that moment were filled with such sadness and longing.  She was desperate to be inside that house rather than sitting in that tree.  You could barely notice her light creamy brown-grey colouring in the darkness, or the long dark brown mane with white-silver streaks running through it that it was currently tied up in a high pony tail.  If you’d have looked closely, you would say that this girl would is beautiful, but no one ever did.  She was wearing very simple clothes, a long sleeve top with a body warmer over pants and light boots.  All black, so she could blend into the night and become invisible.  That’s what she was.  Invisible, someone who you pass on the street but barely notice.  She had spent her life trying to emulate this and she had perfected this ability.  The only person who ever seemed to notice her was her brother, but even he had started to take less notice over the last few years.

The young duck sighed and picked up her binoculars and notepad once again.  She was keeping a very detailed account of the security in this gated community.  There were five other houses in this gated community, but the house that was in front of her was the largest and grandest.  It was also her target.  It had three stories, a large garden and private frozen pond.  It was the home to one of the richest diamond traders in all of Puckworld.  The drake had a store in every major city in every district on Puckworld and owned most of the precious jewel on display in the museums.  The security that he employed for his stores and displays was so tight that the team of a ten year old and a twenty-two year old had no hope of breaking in and getting their hands on anything worthwhile.  However, his private residence was another matter. 

From what the young mallard had seen over the two weeks that she had been sitting out in front of the house there were round the clock security guards.  Each guard was also heavily armed, but they had a routine.  It had taken six days to understand it.  There were teams of two; each patrolling round certain areas of the gated community, with a widening concentric pattern.  There was an enormous window though, after one o’clock in the morning that would allow them to get in and get out before the guards knew anything.  From what she understood, there shouldn’t have been any gaps at all, but people with routines get complacent and sloppy.  That was their hope.

There were cameras covering most of the community, but they too had their weaknesses such as a major blind spot over the staff door and the conservatory door.  It had taken a while to hack into the security system, but she saw them.  That was her job, to see things and to find the blind spots, as well as creating loops and stills that would allow them to walk around without fear of being spotted.  Most of the other professionals she met in her line of work couldn’t believe that she could hack into security systems, but they were very easy and she was very bright.  She would sit out in the cold for hours in the dead of night on her laptop and with her binoculars and notepad.  This helped her come up with some ideas to get into the grounds.  She would then tell these ideas to her older brother, and partner, Duke, who would then come up the plan to get them in and around.  So far this method had worked fairly well, as both of the siblings were very bright and creative, and both could see hidden angles.  Though, both always saw different angles to get everywhere.  So, between the two of them, an airtight plan, and several back up plans would be created with great ease to cover every possibility.  Their parents had always emphasised the importance of being prepared.

Duke was a tall, skinny drake of about twenty-two.  He had a dark brown-grey colouring which was a lot darker than his sisters.  He told her that his colouring was closer to their fathers, while she had favoured their mother.  His hair was the same colouring that he was, brown-grey with a large white-grey streak at the front, instead of several throughout.  It made him look older than he was.  Duke was currently inside the house gather intel for the robbery they were planning.  They had many ways to get inside places, depending on the situation.  They could act as prospective clients for a business, as a family group touring the area, as a new friend from school, it all depended on what they needed.  Tonight Duke was posing as a waiter, the home owners were having a going away party, as they were going on a trip to one of the Southern Islands of Puckworld.  Duke quite enjoyed going to these parties, mainly because of the easy and gorgeous young ducks who wanted to rebel against “daddy” with the help.  It was easy tail to chase.  Tonight however, he was completely focused on business.  The L’Orange siblings were currently being scouted by a criminal organisation, the Brotherhood of the Blade.  It was one of the biggest criminal gangs on Puckworld and the children of the most famous thieves in Puckworld’s recent history would be an amazing asset to them.

The two young L’Orange’s had been very successful over the years.  They were slowly becoming very skilled and were well on their way to being the greatest young thieves that Puckworld had ever known.  They didn’t stay in one place too long and travelled from city to city, staying in hotels.  Even after their parents’ early deaths they were able to afford the luxury that they had become accustomed to.  They had been left a fortune in off island accounts and safe-deposit boxes throughout the entire planet. 

After their father’s death and the birth of his younger sister, Duke became Maria L’Orange’s partner and the two were quite good.  After her death though Duke had gone out on solo heists, leaving his sister in their hotel room reading, practising the guitar and the piano, and dancing.  But after a few years he had begun to train her too, just like he was.  His sister had shown extraordinary skill with safes and over the last five years he had included her in all his plans and heists.  Her ability with computers was something he had only just discovered.  Apparently, she had been hacking into the hotels business systems to lower their total bill for the last few years, so he was very pleased to have her with him.  Besides, he never felt safe leaving her alone in the hotel rooms while he worked.  He was always afraid that she would be found by the authorities and taken away from him and he had promised his mother on her deathbed to look after her.

Duke often thought that Eleanor, or Ellie for short, was the spitting image of their mother.  They had the same expressive eyes which he would challenge anyone not to fall in love with.  Their mother was Maria L’Orange; she was the most successful jewel thief on Puckworld with her husband Stefan L’Orange as her partner.  They were also part of the Brotherhood of the Blade.  In fact, Maria had been their first female member.  Stefan and Maria had trained their son well to follow in their footsteps, as the lifestyle of a criminal was all that they knew.  They were both brought up to be thieves and they had never been caught, until one of their own betrayed them.  Stefan was shot dead holding off a rival thief while Duke and a then unknowingly pregnant Maria got away.  Eleanor had never known their father and had barely known their mother either.  Maria had died when Eleanor was five.

Maria had found out that she had cancer and it had been too aggressive to do much, but she wanted to do one thing before she died.  Avenge her husband, and she did.  That was the only person that any of the L’Orange’s had ever killed.  After that Maria had taken a glass of wine with enough sleeping tablets to kill a small village and she had taken them happily knowing that her husband’s killer was dead and that her children were safe.  She had hoped that they would be able to live a different life, but by that time Duke had a taste for the life of a notorious thief and would not have survived on the straight and narrow.

The party lasted until the early hours of the morning, but Duke had managed to slip away early.  No one would notice one waiter going missing, apart from the blonde mallard that had had her eyes on him on evening.  At two in the morning, with the party was still going, Eleanor had moved down from her hiding spot to make her way to the motorcycle that was parked two streets over.  When she arrived Duke was ready and waiting with her black helmet ready.  He had that cocky smile on which she knew all too well.  He had all the information they would need to break into the house in three days’ time when it was completely empty.

It didn’t take them long to get back to the hotel they were staying in at that time.  It was a five star hotel in the centre of South City and the suite they had had two rooms with a double bed in each that were calling out to them.  They always had suites.  That way they had room to practice their skills, and Duke particularly loved to teach his sister swordsmanship.  His father had taught him and he was the greatest, it was an honour to teach his sister.  The sabres that they both always carried with them were, in fact, heirlooms to the L’Orange family.  Duke carried his fathers while Eleanor carried their mothers.  And though Duke tried to keep up with what his sister should know for their profession there were other things that he should be teaching her, things normal girls her age should know by now.  Such as how to skate and play hockey.  His father had taught his when he was a boy and Duke had loved to play one on one against his father.  He still tried to keep up his hockey skills and he always promised that he would teach her, but they never really seemed to have much time.  He swore that when they entered the Brotherhood and they had a little bit more security he would teach her so that she could be a pro.

Duke looked up to see his sister sitting and reading an advanced chemistry book.  Since they were always moving from place to place they both had not attended school.  That suited Duke fine as his mother had home schooled him and was beginning to home school Eleanor.  Since her death Duke had had to take over.  Luckily Eleanor had a thirst for knowledge and by the time she was eight she was studying at a high school level.  Duke had been the same, when he was twelve he took his High School Equivalency Test, at the request of his mother, and had passed with flying colours, so if they were to go straight they had an education and some qualifications to fall back on.  Duke had planned on enrolling Ellie to take the test in a few years if they didn’t join up with the Brotherhood.  His mother had insisted that when Ellie was old enough she should also be given the chance to have a real education, which she had also offered Duke.  Maria had taken a degree in Art History, and had hoped that Duke would actually decide to get a degree as well, as she refused to let her children suffer the curse of being ignorant.  Unfortunately, Duke had decided against it, but promised to go back later to get an advanced education.

Duke would often look at his younger sister, who didn’t know how to skate or have anyone her age to talk to, and often wonder if he was doing the right thing.  He knew that Ellie was very self-conscious about talking to people her own age, and would get flustered when people she didn’t know tried to engage her in conversation, as she preferred to talk to people older than her.  He knew that that was because she had never had the opportunity to talk to kids her own age, and that if she had been taken into care then she would be a lot less socially awkward.  But he couldn’t give her up, he loved her and he had promised his mother that they would stay together.  They would both have to go straight for them to settle down, and Duke couldn’t give up the life.

“Come on Ellie, time to go to bed,” Duke said taking off his shirt and tie, leaving her undershirt on.

“Duke,” the sweet voice of his sister said.

“Yeah kiddo?”  Duke asked as he took a beer out of the mini fridge in the kitchen and walked towards the large couch.

“Why do we do this?” Ellie asked quietly, without taking her eyes off of her textbook.

“Do what?” Duke answered as he took a sip of the expensive beer.

“This, why do we have to steal?” Ellie asked, finally looking her older brother in the eye.

“To live.” Duke said simply as he took another sip of beer and regarded the girl sitting next to him.  She had finally looked up at him from her textbook and her bright green eyes looked sad and confused.

“Why do we have to live like this?” Ellie said softly, looking around the large and impersonal hotel suite.

“Live like what?  We live in five star hotels, we never have to cook or clean up after ourselves.  We have no rules.  This is every kids dream.”  He said with a large flourish as he gestured around the room.

“I wouldn’t know as I don’t know any other kids.” Eleanor said sadly, once again looking down at her textbook.

“Come here.” Duke said softly while gesturing for his sister to come closer.

“What’s wrong Ellie?” Duke asked once his sister had curled up next to him on the large couch.  She used to this after he returned from every solo job.  Just lie close to him until she fell asleep, being lulled to sleep by his deep voice and steady breathing.

“ _I just wish that sometimes we were normal, you know.  Living in a house with a mother and father, going to school, having friends.  You know normal_.”  The small girl said in Rouenin, which she often resorted back to when she was excited or upset.  Rouenin was one of the fifteen languages spoken on Puckworld, with Mallarish being the most common.  Duke could actually speak all fifteen languages, but Rouenin was their first language as that was the district of Puckworld their family had originated from.  The small girl had unshed tears in her eyes, as she could almost see the life that she would never know, but know that she could never have.  And it broke her brother’s heart to see her that upset.

“ _Normal is relative.  This is what I grew up knowing, and so did mama and papa_.”  Duke said kindly as he gently rubbed his sister’s shoulder in an affectionate manner.

“ _What were they like?”_   Eleanor asked.  This had become one of her favourite bedtime stories since she their mother died.  The tales of Maria and Stefan L’Orange.  Duke of course used a bit of creative licence to entertain his sister, but most of it was true and it would always make her feel better and would make her sleep more soundly.

It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, as she was exhausted from the rigorous observations that she had been making.  Duke picked her like she weighed nothing, and carried her into her room and put her to bed.  He placed her delicately down, and lovingly tucked her into her bed, not forgetting to give her the teddy that she always slept with.  His sister was a very clingy sister sleeper and she needed something to grip onto while she slept or she would sleep well.  As soon as she had the large stuffed animal next to her she gripped it into a death grip and snuggled deeper into the luxurious bed, but she still looked fitful.

Duke knew that there was only one thing that would get the duckling to sleep properly tonight, and that was if he slept in the bed with her.  He had gotten used to having the young girl sleep with him, as she had been doing it since she was a baby.  Duke often woke up and found the girl snuggled up next to him in his bed as if he was a life sized teddy.  At first it had infuriated him, but since his mothers’ death he had come to find the presence just as comforting.  And, when she was really upset, he would often anticipate her need for closeness and just sleep go to sleep with her instead of going to his own bed.  As soon as he climbed into bed the duckling had turned over and grabbed a hold of her brother as if she was afraid he would disappear at any second.

“ _You’ll see kid; once we do this job we’ll hit the big time_.” Duke whispered into his sister’s ear just before he fell asleep.  And it was true; if this job was successful the young L’Orange children would join the Brotherhood of the Blade and become some of the most famous thieves on Puckworld.  This is what Duke had wanted his entire life and he was desperate to achieve it.  Even at some costs to both himself and his sister.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a change of time, which will happen a lot during this story

Chapter Two

It was a very beautiful autumn day in the small city of Bardon.  There was a crisp breeze and clear blue skies with a thin layer of fresh powder on the ground.  It was probably going to be the last pleasant day of autumn before the harsh winter set in, and Wildwing Flashblade used this beautiful day to practice hockey. 

Wildwing was a quite tall drake, standing at almost six foot four.  He was quite well built with broad shoulders and thick muscles.  He was also quite a serious eighteen year old drake.  He had white feathers across his body, with a white mane the same colour as his plumage that he liked to keep cropped short.  He was a little quiet, but quite intelligent with a great understanding of how people worked.  He was also very skilled in hockey, which had in fact earned him a scholarship to DuCaine University; he was currently two months into his first year.

His best friend Canard Thunderbeak had also received the same scholarship and they were currently sharing a dorm-room at one of the universities accommodation buildings.  This was very unusual for two drakes from the same school district, let alone the same high school, to get the same scholarship to the very prestigious school.  One which they could of never afforded on their own.  Both drakes had to achieve the highest scholastic record in their school district and also achieve a very high standard in competitive hockey.  And both had achieved the top three slots in both for the entire school district.  It also helped that they were recommended to the University by the coach of a professional team who had known both boys since they ducklings.  While they were getting a free ride both had decided to use it to their advantage and were studying hard for a double majors in sociology and criminology, as both wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps and join the police force.  That was actually how the boys had met all those years ago. 

Their fathers were partners on the Central City Police Department, and had both worked from the ground up to become prominent members of the force.  They had both married around the same time, and had both had children at the same time, and had even moved into the same neighbourhood.  So, it was only natural that they lived close by each other and that their sons became great friends.  They were each other’s rock when Wildwing’s father had been killed during raid on a narcotics gang when they were ten, and when Canard’s mother had died from long term illness when they were fourteen.  Now they supported each other during the hard academics and physical tests that they were now facing.

Wildwing and Canard were both in the first year team, along with about twenty other ducks, but there were rumours that they may be on the main university team next year.  Each year had its own team, with one major team for the entire University.  The year teams would compete with other years, as well as other universities for practice, while the main University team would compete for championships.  The main university team was mostly made up of junior and senior class students, and very few sophomores ever made it to the main team.  It would be an amazing honour to even be considered.   During the first month of practice Canard had been made team captain of the first year team and had played in every game since.  Wildwing on the other hand had not played in all the games and never starting in goal, that was why they decided to do some extra practice so that they would keep him as starting goalie when he finally got to play in that position.  They had heard that he would be playing as starting goalie next game, but it had yet to be confirmed.  That was another reason for the extra practice, he wanted to impress them during the regular team practice so that his position would finally be confirmed.

So, that was why Wildwing stood in front of the goal that was set up in the park, just outside the accommodation centre of the university wearing his green thermal shirt and grey jeans under his heavy goalie pads.  He was currently playing a free for all with his 13 year old brother Nosedive, and Canard.  Nosedive was often the complete polar opposite of Wildwing as most brothers seemed to be.  He wasn’t as tall and wasn’t as well built.  He also had pale yellow feathers instead of white.  And, instead of the clipped short white mane that Wildwing favoured, Nosedive had long mane, which was currently green.  They also had entirely different personalities.  While Wildwing was quiet, reserved and serious, Nosedive was loud, reckless and impulsive.  But, although they didn’t have the same temperament, they got along extremely well and Nosedive often came to visit Wildwing at DuCaine.  In fact Wildwing sometimes didn’t understand that, though he had moved out of his mother’s house and to an entirely different city, he still saw Nosedive a lot more than was normal for a university student.  He would never admit it to his brother, but he did enjoy having him around.  Wildwing had become very attached to Nosedive after their father died, and had taught him a lot of the skills that a father usually teaches a son, with the help of Call Thunderbeak, Canard’s father.

The three drakes were currently playing their usual game, it was a free for all between Nosedive and Canard with Wildwing in goal.  Nosedive and Canard often played the same position so would often be odds with each other and quite vicious on the ice, even though Canard did love Nosedive like the brother he never had.  At that moment neither had gotten a single shot past him and Wildwing was watching as they tried to steal the puck from each other to try for another goal.  And that’s when he saw her. 

Tall and beautiful, with a soft creamy brown and grey colouring.  With a mane that fell in long waves of dark brown and white down her back.  She was slim but curvy in all the right place and the way she walked past was like a well choreographed dance.  He had never seen anyone like her, she was almost ethereal.  He could not keep his eyes off of her as he watched her walk across the park and unfortunately that was the last thing he saw for a while.  He was so entranced by this girl that he didn’t see the slap shot that Nosedive had sent his way.  Nor did he hear his brother calling for Wildwing to watch out as the shot was heading directly for his head. 

“Wh…what happened?”  Wildwing asked, trying to sit up.  He didn’t understand why he was suddenly lying in the snow with a pounding headache and feeling quite cold.

“You got hit, on the head.  What the hell happened there Wing?  You just stopped what you were doing?  You could have been seriously hurt!” Canard asked worriedly while handing his best friend a bag of ice that Nosedive had just brought over.  The young drake was looking very concerned and very guilty.  He hadn’t meant to hit the puck that hard, but his brother usually could have blocked something like that with his quick reflexes and fantastic instincts.

“I don’t know.  I just saw…” Wildwing stopped there, a slight blush warming his cold cheeks.  He was aware that the two others were looking at him intently, trying to understand why the best goalie they both knew had been defeated by a lucky slap shot.  Wildwing did not want to tell them that the reason he stopped was because he saw what he thought was an angel walk by.  So, instead, he just looked down at his hockey mask which his brother and friend had obviously taken off his face to look for any injuries.  As well as the pads that they had obviously stripped from him, and that someone had begun to put away into his kit bag.

Canard had never seen that look on his friends face before.  He seemed a bit dreamy and confused.  He wanted to know exactly what he had seen, but knew best not to push Wildwing if he didn’t want to tell him.  He would when he was ready.  But then Canard suddenly had a thought.  Maybe what had stopped Wildwing dead was the same thing that had caused the slight lapse in his concentration that had enabled Nosedive to steal the puck away from him.  It was a possibility, though he knew Wildwing hadn’t been that interested in any duck since that bitch of an ex-girlfriend had broken his heart at the prom seven months ago.  But that girl who had just walked past was gorgeous.  Even the monks in the high mountains would have looked twice if she had walked by them.

“How bout we get a drink?  A couple of guys in class told me about this great coffee house across the park.  I heard that they have great soup and in this weather it seems like a good idea.” Canard said, while helping his friend to his feet.  Wildwing nodded in agreement, picking up his stray mask and kit bag full of pads, saying that that sounded like a good idea.  The two of them started to skate off in the direction of the coffee house when Nosedive reminded everyone of his presence and ideas of what he thought a visit to a university should entail.

“Soup?  Coffee?  What kind of college students are you guys?  I thought we would do something a bit wilder!  Come on guys, let’s hit a few clubs, have a few drinks, score some babes!”  Nosedive exclaimed with unadulterated childish enthusiasm complete with a voice breaking squeak.

“You sound like you were hit in the head with a puck, instead of him,” Canard replied sarcastically while gesturing at Wildwing, “Come on kid, let’s go, you’re too young to get into any of those places anyway”. 

That quietened him down for a while, but he still mumbled under his breath that he could get in if he wanted to and something about a fake ID.  So, the three drakes made their way across the park to the place that they had heard about.  It was a nice, cosy looking building standing between a bookstore and an admin building.  It had green awnings and a green and brown sign that read “the Scene”.  Wildwing assumed this was a reference to some poem, as he knew a lot of the arts students gathered in these kinds of places.  He normally didn’t frequent coffee houses much, but after that hit in the head and lying in the snow for however long he was out, he felt like he needed a nice hot drink.  With, or without hard liquor.

However when he walked inside it wasn’t at all like he had expected.  It didn’t seem too artsy or pretentious.  The coffee house had a nice cosy atmosphere with lots of mismatched furniture that looked comfy and inviting.  There were bookcases with a huge selection of fiction and non-fiction, with many of the recommended textbooks that the university used round the room, so you could come in and study.  He could also hear soft music playing in the background, some sort of acoustic guitar which didn’t seem loud or overbearing and really helped give the place the relaxed and inviting atmosphere.  He was looking around for the source of the music while following the other two to a free table on the other side of room, not really paying much attention to his surroundings. 

And that was when he saw her again, the angel.  She was standing behind the counter making coffee and talking to another girl.  Wildwing couldn’t take his eyes off her, which was probably why he tripped over a chair and fell to the floor taking a table, lamp and a couple of half full coffee cups with him.

Everything seemed to stop at that moment.  The chatter, the music, the warm feeling that he got when he entered.  He could feel every set of eyes boring into him.  He could hear sniggering, laughing and general mocking as he tried to untangle his legs from the chair, with very little success.  With every second the noise seemed to get louder and started to bare down upon him with the feeling of shame and humiliation.  He looked up to see the mallards behind the counter laughing and gesturing to him.  The angel on the other hand was currently biting down on her thump to stop her laughing out loud but he could see the mirth and pity in her eyes.

Canard couldn’t understand what was going on with his friend today, until he saw him stealing glances up at the counter and saw that he kept looking at the girl that he had seen in the park.  He chuckled to himself as he helped his friend up.

“I know what you’re thinking about,” Canard said quietly to his friend as he was thinking the exact same thing.  That duck mallard was gorgeous and he wanted to do some very naughty things with her.

 Wildwing just looked down at his coffee stained jacket and pants, knowing that he had just made a complete fool out of himself in front of a lot of other students.  He wanted to just run out of the place, but Canard held him firm and guided him to a nearby table where Nosedive was currently sitting.  Well, perhaps a more apt description would be rolling around in his chair laughing his ass off.  So much for brotherly love and support.

Wildwing sat down trying to be as small as he could, which was hard when you were as large as he was.  He could still feel everyone’s whispers boring into him and it made him feel really uncomfortable.  He wished with all his might that the angel wouldn’t come over, but she did. 

He was able to observe her more during her short walk over and he noticed that her mane wasn’t all the same colour.  It was mostly a dark brown and there were some streaks of silver-white running through it, but it mostly fell in long, dark, curls that bounced when she walked.  Her eyes were bright green and flashed with such joy.  Her beak was not as brightly coloured as most of the other ducks he had seen, it was more of a light orange-brown.  He saw that her figure was slight, but curved in all the right places giving her a very soft feminine look.  She was wearing dark skinny jeans, an oversized black shirt with the word “Ella” written on the back in green lettering and a small green apron with “The Scene” written in the corner.  He kept wishing that someone else would get her attention and that she would never come over, but that never works.

“Hi there, my name’s Ella, what can I get you guys today?” She said in the sweetest, sing-song voice he had ever heard, while she pulled out a pencil from her mane and a small order pad from her apron.  She smiled down at the three new customers with sincerity, and Wildwing could see no mocking in her smile.  Though, she did start to fidget slightly when she stood next to their table.

“Why yes.  What would you recommend to three guys who had just worked up a sweat after an intense hockey training session?” Nosedive asked his youthful cockiness evident.

“A shower,” The sweet song voiced waitress retorted with a serene smile.  That seemed to put Nosedive back in his place.  He sank back into his seat muttering under his breath that sounded something like hot chocolate with marshmallows.

“Good choice kid,” she said, writing his order down, “And how about you?”  She was looking directly at Wildwing now.  He could see straight into the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.

“Um, yeah, well, um, wh-what, um, I would, um...” Wildwing stuttered out as his beak didn’t seem to work at all.

“Are you always this articulate?” She asked with a soft smile.

“What would you recommend?” Canard asked, saving his friend from further embarrassment and drawing this gorgeous young duck’s attention to him.  The naughty thoughts quickly came back to him, especially as he could see some decent cleavage over the shirt.

“Well, we had a great ground roast today, if you want coffee.  If you’d like soup we have a leek and potato which everyone seems to be enjoying.  Oh, and some great cookies,” Ella replied quickly.

“We’ll have two ground roasts then please, and some of those great cookies since you personally recommend them,” Canard answered with a smile, absolutely certain that his friend could not form a coherent sentence.  He had hoped that she would respond to his mild but she didn’t even seem to notice.  When she finished writing the order, said she would bring it over right away, and then turned on her heel after giving a winning smile to the three and a great view of her rear.  This smile seemed to have been Wildwing’s complete undoing as his face fell into his arms that were on the table.

“Smooth bro, real smooth!” Nosedive said as soon as she was out of earshot.

“Shut up Dive!  You ok Wing?” Canard asked finally taking his eyes of the retreating waitress.

“She is … an angel,” That was all he was able to get out before Nosedive burst out in hysterics and Canard slapped him across the back of his head.  So he went back to burying his head in his arms.  Nosedive had never heard his brother say anything like that before and it sounded so corny, and no matter how many times Canard hit him or glared at him, he just couldn’t stop snickering at his brother’s predicament.  While Nosedive was really outgoing and talkative Wildwing had always been a little shy but nothing to this extent.  So, Nosedive just couldn’t understand how his brother could have been so undone by this one particular girl.  Though she was really pretty.

It didn’t take her long to come across with their order.  She set it down in front of them and as she did Wildwing was able to smell her perfume.  It was light and airy and it reminded him of spring.  As she set his drink down she smiled directly at him and his heart skipped a beat as she walked away.  The mallard luckily didn’t notice both drakes watching her walk away.  Though, Wildwing did notice that every other drake in the place watched her walk back to the counter.

“She is hot!” Canard eventually said, bringing his cup up to his beak to take a long drink.

“Yeah, she is,” A nearby drake said, “Just don’t get your hopes up.  She’s worked her two weeks and in that time I’ve heard about sixty guys have asked her out and she’s turned them all down.”  The drake finished with a sad sigh.  Obviously, he had been one of the sixty.

“Well, I guess that’s me out then,” Wildwing said dejectedly.  He thought that if she had turned down guys who hadn’t taken a table dive in front of her then he certainly didn’t stand a chance.

“Don’t sound so defeatist Wing, you never know what could happen,” Canard said patting his friend on the back.  He had hoped to ask Ella out and was currently building up the courage to walk up and just ask her out.  That was before he had seen the state that his best friend was in.  Canard had been best friends with Wildwing since they were babies and had never seen him go so gaga over a girl.  He couldn’t possible ask out a girl that Wildwing was already so smitten with.  Yet that didn’t stop him looking.

Wildwing looked over and saw her talking to the other girl.  She had such a beautiful smile.  He turned his attention back to his coffee and began to enjoy the hot beverage when he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He quickly turned around and saw Ella standing right behind him holding something out to him.

“Here, for the coffee.  You don’t want it to stain,” Ella said quickly, before smiling down at the confused drake.  He took the cloth she was offering him and stuttered a thank you out to her.  He had no idea how the girl had gotten silently across the café and behind him.  The instincts that he had honed while playing in goals usually meant that he was quite aware of his surroundings, but this girl seemed to be completely throwing him off.

“Well, that was promising,” The drake from the other table said with a sad sigh before turning back to his coffee.

Wildwing was still in a state of shock as he began to bloat the stain out of his jacket.  Maybe there was some hope after all.  Or maybe she was just being nice.  That was when she turned around and smiled at him, before looking away shyly.

Maybe there was some hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that, I do enjoy making backstory.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

With a start Wildwing suddenly sat up from his desk.  He had fallen asleep while going over the new contracts that Phil had given him to look at and had had that same dream again.  The dream where he had first met Ella.  He looked down and saw her in all the photos that had been spread across his desk and wished that he was still asleep, that was the only time that he could see her, touch her and talk to her.  He missed her voice.  That beautiful smile, that playful nature and those green eyes that he could stare into for eternity.  He missed the silky feathers that covered her body that he had never tired of stroking.  He missed the way beak would caress his when they kissed and how the words “I love you” would tumble out of it.  He missed the way she would curl her body into his after they made love and would sleep soundly while holding onto him.  He would have died a very happy duck if he could hold her like one more time before he went to sleep.

He could almost see the coffee shop again in his mind, and Ella behind the counter smiling at him.  The smell of coffee and cake was so real that he could almost taste them.  Instead Wildwing had woken up to the blue room that he called home on Earth and he groaned in frustration to have been taken out of that dream.  The once chaotic room that was filled with sports equipment was now a relaxing mix of what Wildwing had had on Puckworld and a maturity that he had acquired on Earth.  There were trophies and books spread around, showing his dedication to improving himself and what he had achieved.  The posters and games were now replaced with framed photos and press clippings, as well as some tasteful landscape photography that Wildwing had taken himself during their away game trips.

Over the last two years Wildwing had also begun to study part time with a local college.  The Saurians had invaded during Wildwing’s third year at university and he had promised himself that he would finish his education once he got back.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t looking very likely now. So, now he was studying a few courses, some out of necessity and some out of interest.  The contract law and management course was necessary to help curb Phil’s ridiculous ideas and to make sure he didn’t take advantage of them.  The history and sociology classes were just for fun.

Wildwing silently cursed whatever it was that had woken him up and that’s when he heard it again.  His name being screamed at the top of his team mates lungs, disturbing the peace and tranquillity that he found in his room. 

“I can’t be bothered with this shit,” Wildwing said as he got up from his desk to leave his room.  He was dressed neither for battle nor for training, but instead in comfortable worn jeans and a white button down shirt.  Clothes that he had bought on Earth, rather than anything that he owned from Puckworld.  Also, he wasn’t wearing the Mask.  He had been doing that a lot more recently, as there really didn’t seem to be a point to it now that the Saurians were gone.  Though, he always put it back on when he went in front of the others.  It helped to keep up appearances.  So, with the Mask firmly back in place he left his room.

Wildwing silently fumed as he walked down the corridor that lead to the large common room, also known as the rec room, which was where the noise seemed to originating from.  When he got into the room he saw Mallory and Nosedive in the middle of an argument, and a very loud one at that.  There was always an argument going on in the Pond nowadays.  The hockey season had closed for the year and their enemies, the Saurians, were long defeated and dead.  They still kept up with practices twice a day, and crime fighting, but it wasn’t like it used to be.  The inactivity seemed to be driving everyone a little bit crazy, and it also gave their leader time to think too often about the past. 

The young leader stood there listening long enough to realise that the argument was about Nosedive’s music.  The arguments always seemed to be between Nosedive and Mallory.  Mallory loved structure and discipline, while Nosedive thrived in chaos.  This always offended her.  Wildwing was always being brought into arguments to stop them escalating into a full out war, while the others just let them get on with it. 

They had been on Earth for almost six years now, with no hope yet of ever returning to their home world.  Over two years ago they had finally defeated the last Saurian Overlord in a long and brutal battle.  The ducks had had no choice and had killed all four Saurians that day by blowing up their ship as it was attempting to make a dimensional jump.  And with the ship the dimensional gate that had brought them to this dimension had been destroyed.  They had managed to salvage some things from the destroyed Raptor, but not nearly enough to recreate the dimensional gateway generator.  Ever since that day the ducks had thrown themselves into hockey and crime fighting.  Lucky for Wildwing he had always wanted to go into law enforcement, like his father, he just always hoped that it would be on Puckworld where he could start a family.  Though, since the season was closed and the city was quiet each of the ducks had had to keep themselves occupied.  Hence, the current shouting match.

Grin was sitting on the floor in the far corner of room and appeared to be meditating in his sweatpants and vest.  He looked so peaceful and almost as if he was completely unaware of the loud argument happening directly in front of them all.  He had such a calm demeanour and had never let anything get to him.  It was could be quite inspiring, as well as quite irritating.

Tanya was sitting at the table in the centre of the room with Roxie, one of their human friends.  The girl was working towards her doctorate in Experimental Physics and Engineering and had actually worked on some equipment that went up on the International Space Station.  Surprisingly, she had been Nosedive’s friend first as they were both comic book fiends and extreme sports mentalists.  Both of these incredibly intelligent females were quietly tinkering with some sort of new invention, obviously ignoring what was happening around them.  It was lucky that both of them could work through a hurricane without noticing when they really got into their work.  They had actually done it a few times as well.

Roxie was quite like Nosedive, she thrived in chaos and they bounced off each other quite often.  She wasn’t a very tall woman, possible 5 foot 6, but she was very voluptuous, with multi-coloured, rainbow hair that was currently in a ponytail, as she was working.  She had become such a fixture around the pond that she was now considered part of the team.  She had caused quite a stir when she appeared in their lives three year ago, as everyone thought she would be a bad influence on Nosedive, as she was very liberal in her thoughts and actions.  But they all realised that she was what the young drake had needed, someone his own age he could just be his friend.  And both Nosedive and Roxie could often be found hanging out around the Pond.  Although, the girl didn’t like hockey very much, which Nosedive was trying to change, they had always found something to do together.

Wildwing spotted Duke, who was off on the other side of the room practising his fencing stance wearing his maroon form fitting jumpsuit.  Duke had actually created his own training room four years ago so he could practice all the skills he had spent years honing, but he usually liked to go through the basic stances in the common room.  He was obviously ignoring what was going on as well.  He had the same calm and serene look he always did when he was practising.  Wildwing always thought that that was when the older drake did most of his thinking.  It was always amazing to watch him practice and Wildwing had once approached the older drake about fencing lessons.  Duke had spent a few moments sizing Wildwing up and then said with a sad smile that he had only trained one other person before retreating into his personal training room and not reappearing for five days.  He never expanded on who this person was, and Wildwing had never pressed the subject again.  No one knew much about Duke’s past, and the person who he had previously trained was obviously a sore spot.

Wildwing just stood there for a few moments listening to this petty argument.  He was only just twenty-eight and he already felt that the weight of two worlds were on his shoulders.  This meant that he was in no mood to deal with this, so he let out a long sigh, ran his fingers through his mane and turned to walk back to his room and private thoughts.  This caused all the occupants of the room to look in the direction of the retreating back of their leader.

“What’s wrong with him?” Mallory asked in the direction of Tanya and Grin.  She completely ignored the presence of Roxie, who was sitting crossed-legged on the stool right in front of Tanya.  Roxie reminded Mallory too much of Nosedive and she could only deal with one of him at once.  Though, she did like Roxie better when she was quietly working with Tanya instead of hanging out with Nosedive.  They were too loud together.  Or when the girl was with Duke.  That was also loud, and slightly disturbing as the two would flirt endlessly with each other.

“Dunno,” said Tanya briefly looking up from her work, trying to work out their leader’s ill mood.  He had been getting quieter lately and nobody knew why.  He was focused on a lot of the mundane things that were involved with running a hockey team.  He had even taken a more active role in the promotion, stopping Phil from making them do any more outlandish stunts.

“When one has a disturbance of the mind, it is very unlikely that they will tolerate a disturbance of surroundings,” Grin said in his calm baritone, causing everyone to look at the tall drake.  With the blank looks he then received from his team mates and friends he continued, “He’s got something on his mind therefore he doesn’t want to hear other people’s problems.”  He said more simply before once again resuming his meditation stance and calm.  No one else really knew what to say to this statement, as it seemed to be the most logical reason for their leader’s behaviour.

Nosedive had also gone silent now and was just watching his brother leave the room without a word.  He couldn’t understand why Wildwing was getting quieter and more antisocial; it wasn’t like him at all.  Usually during periods of quiet he liked to keep the team on their toes with snap practises and drills, but since the Saurians had been killed and along with them their hope of returning to Puckworld, Wildwing had retreated into his own thoughts and solitude.  Nosedive was determined to that this behaviour couldn’t continue and was determined to help his brother out of this.  With this new purpose and drive Nosedive quickly ran out of the common room after his brother, without a word to anyone.

“Now, what’s wrong with him?” Mallory asked Roxie after Nosedive suddenly ran out of the room.  Roxie just watched her friend leave and knew not to meddle, so she returned her attention to the gadget that she was working on.  Roxie knew that Nosedive was worried about his brother’s new reclusive, workaholic attitude.  They had actually talked many nights about what they could do to help him, but so far they had drawn a blank.  This, was all done in confidence though, and Roxie would never betray anything that her friend said to her.

“Dunno,” answered Roxie with a smile, imitating Tanya.  Then she returned to her tinkering, while Mallory picked up the book she was reading before Nosedive had interrupted the quiet of the room.  Mallory had wanted to run after Wildwing herself but thought better of it since the kid had, even though Nosedive was now twenty-three and no longer a kid everyone still thought of him that way.  Since they had become trapped on this planet Mallory had been thinking a lot about the future.  She was over thirty now and had always envisioned settling down at this age.  Her choices were few, but she had had her eye on Wildwing for a while now.  He seemed like the logical choice, plus he had matured into a very fine specimen of a drake.  She was just waiting to make her move now as she knew that he was a little shy still and probably didn’t have much experience when it came to females.  So, she would wait until the best opportunity presented itself, but for now she had a really good book to read.

“Bro?” Nosedive asked, entering his brother’s room.  No one was usually allowed into Wildwing’s room without permission, but Nosedive always just came and went.  He liked spending time with Wildwing in his room, it felt like him now.  Before the room had been quite similar to Nosedive’s but now it looked so grown up and actually comforted Nosedive a lot.  It also helped that it had a huge bed that Nosedive would usurp as soon as Wildwing was away on a trip.

 “Yeah?”  Wildwing’s dejected voice sounded without looking around.  He was sitting at his desk again, with a pile of papers to his left but he wasn’t looking at them.

“You ok?” Nosedive asked, walking closer to his brother.

“Fine,” Wildwing answered.  He sounded quite final, as if to say that he didn’t want any more questions and only just wanted to be left alone.

Nosedive was about to say something to his brother, but thought better of it.  Considering his brother’s mood and tone he thought that the best idea was to leave him alone.  He was about turn around and walk out of the room when he looked up and saw the photo in Wildwing’s hand.  Beautiful green eyes were looking up into his brother’s face with the brightest smile that seemed to be only for him.  All this was hanging off his brother’s arm with long brown curly hair with its silver streaks bouncing around the two of them.  He then looked around his brother’s desk and saw the other pictures that were out.  Comprehension finally dawned.

“She always did have a smile that could light up any room,” Nosedive said, sitting down on the desk in front of his brother.  He picked up one of the other photos showing the same girl with her arms around Nosedive’s neck, both making faces up at the camera.  He remembered when this was taken, Wildwing had taken it during one of Nosedive’s visits in his second year of university.  They were all just messing around outside in one of the quads and Wildwing happened to have a camera to hand and had snapped a few quick shots.  That picture always made Nosedive laugh.  He was really happy that they had managed to recover some of their things before they left with the strike force.  Both the brothers had grabbed a single small box of mementoes from their destroyed house in Central City, and it seemed all that was in Wildwing’s box was pictures.

“I miss her.  I miss her so much,” Wildwing said, without taking his eyes off the photo in his hand, though Nosedive did see the tears building.  He could hear the sadness in his brothers’ voice and it broke his heart a little. 

“I know you do bro,” Nosedive said picking up another photo.  It was a photo of the two of them and their mother, with Canard and his father, and Ella.  It was obviously taken during Spring Festival, as you could see the decorations in the background.  They always had a big party between the two families, and this was the first one that Ella came to.   That was also the first time that she met Magda Flashblade.  The short, blonde maned female who was the matriarch of the Flashblade family was a legend amongst her neighbourhood.  She had been the chief nurse in the Central City Infirmary before the invasion and had raised two young male single-handedly after the unexpected death of her husband.  She was a fantastic cook and was an exceptional mother.  She could be both caring and terrifying at the same time, and had earned the respect of everyone that she had ever come across. 

“I remember when this was taken.  It was the first spring break you came home for.  That was also the first time Ella had met mom.  God, remember mom was so old fashioned with you two saying that you had to stay in separate rooms, but then when she went to bed Ella would sneak into your room each night.  ‘Bout four days in mom figured out what you guys were doing and went to confront you only to walk in on you two half naked and getting on!  Man, I never heard mom say those kinds of words before!  She did take to her after that though, didn’t she?  She even taught her how to cook grandma’s recipes.”   Nosedive laughed at the end of that story, earning himself a small chuckle from Wildwing.  Now this was more promising, an actual positive reaction.  Nosedive looked over and picked up another photo, hoping to have the same reaction. 

This photo was different though.  It showed Wildwing in a fitted black suit, white shirt and green tie looking down happily at the girl on his arm.  Ella was dressed in a green, satin halter necked dress, with her hair arranged in a beautiful up-do and a white pearl necklace.  She was also looking happily up at Wildwing.  It was actually a candid photo taken by Canard and it was a great photo that just showed how much they loved each other.

“Oh gods, this one was always mom’s favourite you know.  You two all dressed up for that summer formal.  I remember she got one blown up and framed it and put it over the fireplace.  You know, she told me after she hung this up that she knew that you two were going to be for keeps.  She also said that you two would have some beautiful babies one day.”  Nosedive finished, looking at his older brother to gauge what he was thinking. 

“We talked about having kids a few times.  She wanted two, but I wanted four.  I managed to talk her up to three.  I was going to ask her to marry me; mom gave me grandma’s engagement ring and told me to use it when the time was right.  I was going to do it at Graduation, I know that sounds corny, but it seemed right.  I still have it you know, in my top drawer here.”   Wildwing said softly, taking the picture from his brother and just to prove it, he pulled out the ring box and put it on his desk, waiting for Nosedive to pick it up.  Which he did; so he could hold a small bit of his own family history.  The ring was a beautiful but simple.  It had a small princess cut diamond, on a platinum band.  It was small, but perfect.  Nosedive was actually amazed that Wildwing had managed to hold onto this during the invasion, but then again, the Saurians really didn’t care what the ducks were holding as long as it wasn’t a weapon. 

The declaration that his brother was going to propose to Ella did not shock Nosedive.  He knew that his brother was completely in love with Ella.  He could still remember, with vivid details, the day they first met.  Wildwing was head over heels before he even knew her name.  When they eventually did start dating about a month later Nosedive was sure that he had never seen his brother happier.  Those two had been almost inseparable. 

He remembered one day when he had gone to visit his brother and he had completely forgotten.  Nosedive eventually found him, in the park, trying to teach Ella to skate.  He couldn’t imagine how anyone didn’t know how to play hockey let alone skate by the age of 17!  When the three started to play Wildwing and Ella got into a play fight and fell on top of each other in the snow.  He had never seen his brother act like that or smile like that.  That was when Nosedive knew that she was going to be the one, and that one day she would become his sister-in-law.

“Remember that day when I had come to visit you at the end of your second year and you had completely forgotten.  Man, I couldn’t believe that I walked in on you two having sex!  I really didn’t know that girly could scream so loud!  Didn’t it take her like four weeks to be able to look me in the eye again?”  Nosedive said with a chuckle.

“Five.  She was so embarrassed, then to have Canard walk in on us in the shower a few weeks later.  She was so strong though.  She may not have been able to look you in the eye, but she still walked around with her head held high.  That was one of the reasons why I loved her so much.”  Wildwing said with a sad sigh.

“Who didn’t walk in on you two?” Nosedive said with a loud laugh.

“It was hard not to get caught in the moment.  It’s not like we were at it in public every day.  We always waited till we had privacy.  It’s just that you guys didn’t respect our privacy,” Wildwing said matter-of-factly.

Nosedive sat in his brother’s room for the rest of the afternoon listening to what Wildwing’s plans for the future would have been, if not for the Saurian invasion.  The Saurians invaded about three days before Wildwing’s twenty-first birthday and the last time that either had seen Ella was three days before that as Wildwing had left Bardon for summer vacation.  Both Wildwing and Nosedive had tried their hardest to find Ella once they Saurians invaded, they were lucky, they were taken together.  They were sent to one of the work camps before Canard had found them about ten months later.  Once they got to the resistance headquarters they had asked around about Ella, and their mother, but no had heard or seen anyone matching Ella’s description.  They had tried to look for her before going away with the strike force about two months later but had absolutely no luck.  Wildwing had hoped to pick up the search again once they got back from their mission.  Unfortunately that didn’t happen.  Wildwing hoped and prayed that she had survived and now he was torn.  He wanted her to have moved on and started a family of her own, but at the same time he couldn’t stomach the idea of her with another drake.  The hope that he might see her again was all that was keeping him going.  But even that was starting to fade, as the Raptor was gone, along with the Gateway Generator, and Tanya and Roxie weren’t having any luck duplicating that technology.  And without the gateway generator Wildwing had no hope of ever finding Ella, or his best friend, ever again.

The two brothers spent the rest of the evening reminiscing about Ella.  What she would say and do, her likes and dislikes.  The fact that she could barely skate but could speak fluent Rouenin and knew quantum mechanics without actually having gone to university or even finished high school.  She was just a complete puzzle that Wildwing would have happily spent the rest of his life working out.  She was so family-orientated yet she was an orphan who didn’t speak to her only brother.  She had been home schooled but she told him she had never really had a home.  She always seemed sad about the past, but would always look to the future.  She was just something else and it was hard not to fall in love with her. 

Meanwhile, in the common room another drake was thinking about the same girl, but he called her Ellie.  Duke was thinking about his little sister.  The last time he had seen her was about a week before the invasion began and they had argued.  It was the one thing in his life that he really regretted, that he was never able to make it up to his sister what he had put her through.  He can still remember her young ten year old face and her scared eyes from behind the defence desk when she was given her guilty verdict and told that she was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.  She wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t for him and he almost risked her being sent back for some stupid emerald. 

Duke decided to go back to his room quietly, most of the others didn’t seem to notice when he slipped out of a room, and they were all busy with their own tasks anyway.  Once he got there he pulled out a beaten up book out of his bedside drawer as he sat on his leather armchair. 

The book was an old, leather bound photo album.  The first few pages were pictures of Maria and Stefan, some with their infant son doing some fairly average family activities.  There were some of Maria with her two children, some were professionally done and others were obviously taken by a member of the family.  Stefan was noticeably absent in all of those photos.  After those ones there were only pictures of Duke, with his beak and right eye still intact, and Ellie.  There was even a very professionally taken portrait of the two that was taken just after they joined the Brotherhood of the Blade, and just before Ellie was arrested.  The last few pages were pictures of Ellie, ones that she didn’t know were taken.  They were taken at the café where she worked, the college where she took night courses, the children’s hospital she liked to volunteer at and her attempts to skate on the pond in the accommodation village at DuCaine University with one of the students.  Even though these photos were black and white Duke swore that he could still see Ellie’s green eyes shining through. 

Duke had tried to look for Ellie once the invasion started.  He knew her well enough to know that she had avoided capture, like him.  The only reason she was arrested in the first place was because of someone else’s mistake.  He also knew that she had gone to the police station that day to meet with her parole officer, most likely in reference to Duke himself.  That was as far as he picked up the scent.  He had gone to that police station to find one hell of a battle.  It looked like several police officers had died trying to protect the civilians in the area.  Luckily, she wasn’t one of the bodies, but he knew she fought back.  There were several Ducksabre slices through the droids.  It was one of the things that were left to them; Duke got his father’s sabre while Ellie got their mother’s.  He knew that she was still alive out there and he planned to find her and make everything up to her once he got back to Puckworld.  Unfortunately, that didn’t look very likely now.

“Knock, knock,” came a familiar voice from outside of Duke’s door, bringing him out of his reminiscing and causing him to smile slightly.

“Come in,” Duke called, knowing that the girl knew the code to get into his room.  He looked towards the door, after he heard the swish of it opening, to find Roxie silhouetted in the frame.  He had to admit, that he found the human girl quite stimulating.  Both intellectually and physically.

“What’s up, Kid?” Duke asked looking the girl up and down, admiring her jean clad legs and her body hugging sweater.  Roxie knew that Duke was checking her out, and she enjoyed the feeling of his eye looking her over and it caused her lower region to tighten.  She could barely put up a fight when he began to look at her that way.

“Dive’s disappeared into Wing’s room, and I don’t want to disturb the brotherly bonding going on.  Hopefully it’ll put your fearless leader in a better mood.  Tanya’s had a brainwave that she wants to test out, without my help, so she’s holed up in her lab.  Grin’s gone to La-La Land again in front of his meditation crystals and Mallory’s ignoring me cause of Dive, again.  So, I’m bored now, and lonely,” Roxie finished with a pout.  During her little explanation she had made her way across Duke’s room to sit on the arm of the chair that he was sitting in.  She leaned slightly against his shoulder, allowing the older drake to bring her legs up and over his.

“Well, kid, is there anything I can do to, uh, relieve your boredom?” Duke said lightly running his hand up and down her calf.

“Well, I was thinking ‘bout… a monster movie marathon, you game?” Roxie said seductively, but breaking the image and ending with an impish giggle.  Duke couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him, he loved their banter.

“Sure kid, just let me put this stuff away,” Duke said, closing the photo album.

“Hey, who’s that?” Roxie said.  She knew it was a sore spot to ask any of the ducks about their lives before they came to Earth.  But this was the first time that she had seen any mementoes from anyone’s past, aside from Nosedive.  And she was a very curious girl.

Duke would normally tell the girl that it was personal; she always respected those boundaries that they put up.   But this time, he wanted someone to know.  So, he began to tell Roxie about his sister.  His beautiful, little Ellie.  He told her about how his family were a family of thieves going back hundreds of years; that they had been orphaned when they were young and Ellie had been left to his care.  He told her that Ellie looked up to him almost as a father, rather than a brother sometimes.  He told her that he had done something horrible to her, and that she had never forgiven him.  He told her that he wished that he could have made it up to her instead of making it worse.  He told her that he wished he could have been part of her life, instead of just observing it from a distance.  That he wanted better memories of her or at least have a better photo than the tattered ones that he now possessed.

“Well, at least that one’s a simple fix.  I know a place to get photos touched up.  Shouldn’t cost too much either.  We could blow this one up and put it on canvas, if you like,” Roxie said with her hand softly on his shoulder, rubbing the muscle delicately, gesturing towards the family photo of Duke, Maria and Ellie.  Duke moaned and began to relax into her touch, hoping that she would take the hint and begin to massage his shoulders.  Which she did.  The girl’s touch was amazing, and he could never get enough of it when he let himself indulge in it.  He hoped that maybe tonight would be one of those nights when he could get a little more indulgence from the girl.

“Thanks, kid.  But, do you want to know what would make me feel even better after such an emotional conversation?” Duke said with a smirk and an eyebrow wiggle, trailing a lone finger up her thigh.

“God, how you switch from actual person to dirty old duck in a flash, well that’s a real skill,” Roxie said with mock indignation from where she sat perched on Duke’s chair, her hands immediately leaving his body.

“Sorry, kid, can’t blame a guy for trying.  You were saying something ‘bout Monster movie marathon?” Duke said, standing up and putting his photo album away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the present day timeline.
> 
> I know this was made in '96, but this is set six years in the future so, 2002. Which I can mostly remember.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

 

Three days later both Duke and Eleanor were back at the grand house.  They were dressed in dark jumpsuits, with the tools of their trade in easy reach.  They sat watching for twenty minutes.  It was after one in the morning and they were waiting for the security guards final lap of the gated community.  The guards were supposed to patrol every half hour, but after a week’s heavy surveillance they knew that they only did it every hour until one o’clock after that there would not be another patrol until four.  That was just before the swing shift would come on.  The night shift were generally more active until one, then they hit a slump.  It was the same with most security, there was always a slump in a shift, and you would just have to wait, watch and document to find the routine, and therefore find the window of opportunity.

Once they saw the retreating back of security guard number six, who had a twisted knee and poor eyesight, they made their move.  They had made a comprehensive list of all the security staff that this family employed.  They knew all weaknesses in case any of them decided to make another sweep during the heist. 

Now that number six was gone the two siblings put their plan into action.  First Eleanor shot out, as quiet and unnoticed as death itself, and cut the power to the gate and the sensory lights.  Then Duke picked the lock of the side gate.  It was smaller, quieter and out of sight.  They moved in the shadows up to the conservatory door.  They choose this entrance as it was the door with the easiest lock, and it was also in a blind spot, so the security cameras didn’t record this area.  This information had come courtesy of the blonde heiress from the party, who used this slight gap in security to sneak out or sneak boyfriends in.  It amazed Eleanor just how much information her brother could get out of these idiot girls who all had more money than sense.  Once they had picked the lock of the outside they would have to open the other door inside which had a double lock, it would mean they were completely out of sight in the smallest amount of time.

Once Duke had both doors open Eleanor took care of the first security cameras inside of the house.  She covered the lens with a regular video camera cap.  They had stolen them from a few electronics stores a few days earlier once Duke had found out which model was used.  She then made her way to the hallway closet to turn off the security system for the house.  She hacked into the main system and recorded a small segment of film, which she then played on a loop so if any of the guards did look at the cameras they would see the same five minutes of film played continuously, so it would look just as it would always look as no one was home.

Once all that was done both Duke and Eleanor took off their masks and turned on their flashlights.

“What did I tell you Ellie, we’ve hit the big time now!”  Eleanor had to agree.  Everywhere she looked she saw riches and they were just standing in the hall!

Duke directed her towards the office while he would go to the living room to lift the finer ornaments.  Since this was one of the homes of one of the richest families on Puckworld they would only take the best, as only the best would get them into the Brotherhood of the Blade.

The office was only a few doors away from the main living area, where Duke was evaluating what he wanted to take.  He never let Ellie go very far from him when they were on a job, as it was his job to look after her.

Once Eleanor arrived in the office she looked around to figure out the best place to hide the downstairs safe which would hold the families lose cash and other valuables which they didn’t keep in the safe upstairs.  She saw where it would be.  It was in a fake filing cabinet.  It was always in a fake filling cabinet.  Why didn’t these rich people have any imagination?  She sat down before it and put her fingers to it and took out a piece of chalk.  She had great skill at cracking safes.  Her brother can pick locks and get around most security systems, but he could not crack safes.  While he had to use other methods to open them, which were usually loud, bulky and costly she was able to sit in front of the door and open it by feeling.  It was what made her mother famous and she had apparently inherited this fine skill.  Very few thieves could feel their way to open a safe anymore.  Most used a drill system, but that could trigger the secondary locking mechanism.  Her brother, once he had figured out that she had such a fine skill, had bought so many safes so that she could completely hone it.  He had also taught her everything he knew, as he was good at cracking safes.  But even Duke conceded that Ellie was better.  She just had a natural skill and the patience needed to sit in front of a safe and figure out the combination.  Their mother had been the same, she was the one who had taught Duke and had started to teach Ellie before she died.

In a few minutes Duke had filled the first bag of everything valuable downstairs and had come to sit beside his baby sister while she worked.  It only took another few minutes to have the safe open.  While he began to empty everything worth taking Eleanor headed upstairs to the master bedroom to find the second safe, which held the really valuable jewellery.  That was the main target, everything else was just a happy extra.

She knew where the master bedroom was, top of the stairs and second door on the right.  But she didn’t head there first.  When she got to the top of the stairs she turned to the left, to look into the children’s room.  She had seen them, while she was surveying the house.  They were spoilt and rather boorish.  They had whatever they wanted and she envied it.  Not because they could have anything they wanted, if she put her mind to it she could take whatever she wanted, it was the fact that they had warm beds, in their own rooms, with two parents who would provide everything for them.  And everything they got always came with a receipt.

It was the little girls’ room that called to Ellie.  It was large and completely pink and white.  It was a magnificent four post bed that seemed to belong to a princess in a fairy-tale.  Which is what that girl was, a princess.  On every shelf there were dolls and toys, that all looked to have different levels of love and attention.  Ella only had one doll, it was the one given to her by her mother before she died.  Duke had never allowed her to have many toys, not because he was mean but because they would weigh her down.  Besides, the one doll that she owned was probably the most beloved doll in the world.  It was given to her by her mother when she was three years old, and was the only thing that could calm her down when she was feeling upset.

Ellie allowed herself to sit on the bed and imagine that this grand room was hers.  She imagined that the pictures on the wall contained herself, her brother and her parents.  She imagined what her life would be like if she was the princess girl that actually owned this room.

That was where Duke found her.  He could almost read her mind as she looked longingly at the pink room.  He put his hand on her shoulder and let her continue to fantasise for a moment longer before sending her to finish the job, while he took care of these rooms.

The bedroom safe was just as easy, and held more jewellery than she thought anyone person could ever need.  She began to empty it out, while Duke finished the rest of the master bedroom.

The whole job took less than two hours.  They were out of the house and back to their acquired car just after three in the morning.  After that they took a final look at the house and headed to the shady part of town, where they knew Bennie, the pawn broker would be waiting for them.

Bennie was a tall, older duck, who had once been a great thief and had actually worked with both Maria and Stefan L’Orange.  Now he handled the stolen goods, got buyers and was basically the best means of communication in the world of crime.  There was only a small window of opportunity to sell on some of the merchandise that was acquired from thefts, and Bennie had means of finding these avenues in time.  He was the best and he had also been very trusted by Maria and Stefan, which was why he also kept an eye on both Duke and Eleanor.  When they arrived a little before four he was very impressed.  He knew most of what was in that house and had buyers lined up, but he had no idea how much the complete haul was worth.  He informed both L’Orange children that they had done very well, that he would have their money by morning.  He also told them that he would be in touch with the Brotherhood of the Blade.  This was the guild of thieves that were interested in them.

After they left with a small percentage of their haul for their troubles, which was about a quarter of million dollars, they ditched the car before burning it and got on Duke’s bike which he had stored just out of sight.  It was now getting light, so they decided to have some breakfast.  They had a change of clothes on the bike, so they went into a small café near the student area of DuCaine University which was always open early for the students who pulled all-nighters.  There they were able to change so they could once again blend in with the general populace.

The café was small and always opened early and closed late, and since it was in the student area the staff was used to seeing people come and go at very random times in the day.  The L’Orange children always came here when they were in this city.  The food was excellent and the coffee was great, so they ordered a big breakfast of fruit and pancakes, with juice and coffee.

They had finished their breakfast quite quickly, as they were both famished after a long night of working and were back at their hotel by six in the morning, ready to go to bed.  Duke hoped to get a call from the Brotherhood today to finally secure their place in the prestigious Guild.  Whereas Ellie only wanted to take a shower and go to bed.

Duke didn’t need to wait long, as they got a call from Bennie just after midday while Ellie was still asleep.  They were to meet the current Guild Master for an early dinner, both of them.  This was quite unusual, as there was a definite age limit to the Brotherhood, but they seemed interested in taking Ellie as well.  Of course, Duke knew they couldn’t resist taking both of them as they were both exceptional.  He was ecstatic about the possibility of joining and knew Ellie would be too.  He really wanted to wake her up and tell her the good news, but decided to let her sleep a little longer instead.  She was quite tired after all.

_“Come on Ellie, this is what we have been waiting for our entire lives!  Why don’t you look happy?”_ Duke asked in Rouenin as he was packing the hotel suite, as he knew they would be living in the Guild Seat once they were welcomed into the Brotherhood.  Finally, a place to actually stay.  This was, after all, one of the things that Ellie had always wanted.

_“Why do we have to do it Duke, I mean we have enough money from this job, maybe we could just disappear somewhere?”_ Eleanor asked her brother hopefully while she fingered the piano that was in their suite.  It was a beautiful instrument and she was going to miss playing it.  Duke always made sure that there was an instrument for them to play.  It helped relax both of them, and the advanced fingering exercises actually helped hone their skills as thieves.

“ _What do you mean kiddo, we just pulled off a huge job, just the two of us, and we’re gonna be the most sought after thieves on Puckworld!_ ” Duke exclaimed excitedly.

“And the most wanted,” Ellie said sadly, still fingering the keys and finally switching back into Mallarish.

“What’s this about Ellie?” Duke said, finally stopping what he was doing and coming to sit next to the young mallard.

“I don’t want to do this anymore, I want to have a house, and go to school and have friends.  I want to just be a kid, not some prodigy thief.  I want to come home to same house, sit at the same piano and play on the same keys,” Ellie said angrily, slamming down the piano cover.  She finally let the angry tears fall, the ones that she had been holding in since that pink princess room.

“Ellie, that’s what will happen.  The Brotherhood will take us in and we will come home to same house and you could go to school, a real school too.  Some of the older members have kids and they send them to the private school in Central City.  There are girls your age who have been brought up into this life too, so they’ll understand everything your feeling too.  They’re the kind of friends that you could have, ones that understand you.  And we’ll have our own apartment that we can decorate how we want to.  We’ll go to all the best stores and get the best furniture, and I promise we’ll spend the entire day at a music store trying to find you your perfect piano.  We both can finally get everything we’ve ever wanted,” Duke said calmly as he took his sister into his arms.  He stroked her hair lightly as he knew that this always calmed her down.

Ellie didn’t look at him.  She couldn’t.  She had tried to explain to him that she didn’t want this world at all, let alone some twisted version of normalcy where she would still be a wanted thief.  She wanted to leave it completely and never look back.  She didn’t want girls who would understand her, she wanted to leave that part of her life buried and never revisit it.  She want to leave, and if that meant leaving Duke, then she would. 

Yet, she knew she couldn’t let him down and she couldn’t leave him.  So, instead of trying to explain this to her brother she got changed into the simple black dress her brother had set out for her.  He had also put out a simple cardigan and black ballet pumps.  It was conservative and demure, the image that she would have to portray.  She put on the final pieces that would complete the image, a simple pearl necklace that had once belonged to her mother and strapped her sabre to her ankle as was customary.  She put on the costume she was expected to wear for their meeting with the Guild Master at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city. 

Once she finished getting dressed she re-entered the main room of the suite to see all of their belongings piled into one corner.  It didn’t amount to much; four suitcases and two shoulder bags, plus her guitar case.  Her doll wasn’t packed though, she still sat on the piano next to her sheet music.  Ellie was the only one who ever packed those.

Duke was also sitting in the main room dressed for the night.  He wore his best suit, which was a designer suit he had picked up for his twentieth birthday.  Ellie had given him the blue tie that he wore with it for that birthday as well.  He looked every bit the professional, while she felt like out of place in her designer dress and expensive pearls.

He, on the other hand, thought his sister looked beautiful in the classic black shift dress.  He had begun to notice that his sister had lost all her baby fat and had started to develop a slightly feminine figure.  He knew that in a few years he would be beating off the drakes with a stick, or running them through with his sabre.  But that was something to worry about at another time, far into the future.  For now, she was still his baby sister who still looked like a kid.

“Ready to go, Kiddo?” Duke said with a smile while offering her his arm like the gentleman he was.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Ellie said with a sigh as she took the proffered arm.

Duke led Ellie out of the room, holding the door open for her of course, and out to the elevator.  The floor they were on was very exclusive, as well as very expensive.  They were joined in the elevator by a young, rich couple, who had money dripping from them.

“ _New money,”_ Duke said softly to his sister, eyeing the overdressed couple.  New money always wore too much, whereas older money tended to dress better.  They didn’t feel the need to flaunt their wealth for anyone to see. 

_“Probably off to make fools of themselves flaunting their new fortune.  How do you think they got the money?  Mommy and daddy strike rich recently?”_ Ellie commented to her brother with a smile.  The siblings often communicated in their first language in front of other people, as many ducks in the Mallarin district couldn’t speak that language at all.  They thought that the entirety of Puckworld speaks Mallarish so they didn’t need to bother with any of the other fourteen common languages on Puckworld.  Though, they really didn’t need to talk to communicate.  They had perfected ways of communicating without words, it was one of the abilities that made them such a good team.

_“Probably some business thing, computers or something,”_ Duke answered.

“Oh, aren’t you two cute!” Said the female, eyeing the subtly well-dressed siblings.  “Where are you two off to tonight?”

“The opera,” Ellie answered simply with a smile.  She was sure that these two wouldn’t know that there were no opera’s tonight in the city.  The female got a strange look on her face, as if surprised that anyone would actually enjoy an opera.  The L’Orange siblings actually really enjoyed the opera, as well as some of the other finer things that the upper classes enjoyed.  It helped to have a good understanding and appreciation for anything that potential targets enjoyed.  It often helped them to infiltrate the places where they could do research and gather intelligence.

“Was that Pomeranian you were speaking?” The drake asked.

“No, Rouenin, we’re from that district.  I’m Serpin, this is my sister Ariana,” Duke said giving the fake identities that the siblings were using during their stay at this hotel.  They had many identities that they could all upon, with beautifully counterfeited paperwork that was so authentic looking that it was almost as good as the real thing.  Duke then shook the drakes hand and lifted his expensive watch without missing a beat or alerting the other drake to what was happening.  While Ellie shook the ducks hand and took her diamond tennis bracelet.  Duke and Ellie didn’t need to steal from those two, but they enjoyed putting new money back in their place when they tried to flaunt their wealth too much.  Both Duke and Ellie were extremely well off, due to years of their own active work, and what their family had left them when they died.  It allowed them to have a very comfortable, upper class lifestyle so that they did actually enjoy the fine arts.

They said goodbye to the couple in the lobby, and then informed the desk that they would be checking out tomorrow morning.  The staff seemed quite upset to see the siblings go, as they were renting the biggest suite the hotel had and had been renting it for the past two months.  That was a lot of money from one room.

Bennie had informed Duke that a car would take them to the restaurant, and would be waiting outside their hotel at five thirty sharp.  If they weren’t there at five thirty, then the car wouldn’t wait for them.  And at five twenty-five both siblings were outside waiting for the car to pull up, both looking slightly nervous about this dinner.  It was a little cold outside so Duke had given his sister his overcoat, as the thin cardigan that she wore would not help much.

At five thirty the black town car showed up and the two siblings got in silently.  There was a chilled bottle of wine and two glasses in the back of the car, obviously for them to enjoy.  The legal age to drink on Puckworld was sixteen, but you could drink at a younger age with parental discretion, and Duke decided that Ellie could use a nice, albeit small, glass of the wine.

“ _Here’s to our future, kiddo,”_ Duke said clinking his glass to his sisters.

“ _Whatever it may hold,”_ Ellie answered before taking a sip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As before, Italics are another language. In this case French. As I'm using the fact that Duke's name is a play on the French duck dish, so in my world building there are districts of the planet each with its own language and one of those, where Duke and Eleanor are from, is going to be similar to France and is basically the entirity of Europe on Earth.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit more Ella and Wildwing.

Chapter Five

 

Wildwing knew that that day would henceforth be known as the most embarrassing day of his life, in his memory at least.  But the story of his epic table dive had now spread over the entire university.  It was a very small university after all with only six thousand students. 

During the first team practice after the incident, Wildwing walked in to find members of the first year team doing impressions of the failed conversation and the table dive.  And it wasn’t just members of his team that were being entertained by this, the members of the other teams now referred to him as ‘Table Dive’.  If it wasn’t for Canard, Wildwing would have walked out of the practice and just gone back to bed, where he wanted to stay in the first place.  He had no idea how they story had spread as he was sure that no one from the hockey teams were at the café that day.  But, again, the university was small.  The student population knew all the ducks on the hockey teams, and all the ducks on the hockey teams were part of the overall student population.  And each one attended classes.  When he went to his first class the day after the incident all his classmates were snickering and pointing at him.

While he sat there stewing in embarrassment with everyone mocking him the captain of the main team had come up to him.  He was a very well built, very tall, and very handsome senior class man, who was studying medicine as well as being the captain and the centre of the main team.  He had led the team to consecutive victories while maintaining a very high grade point average.  He was one of the most perfect drakes that Wildwing had ever met.

“Don’t worry kid, we’ve all been there.  That girl is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a pair of tight fitting jeans.  Most of the guys have made fools out of themselves trying to ask her out already, just to be publicly turned down, and have their egos bruised.  It’ll blow over soon enough.  At least she actually spoke to you afterwards.  Which is more than any of these guys could say.”  He said encouragingly.

“You asked her out?” Wildwing asked in shock.

“Oh yeah, went right up to her and cockily asked her to get a drink with me after she finished work, and she just looked at me, laughed and told me that my amount of cockiness may work on other girls, but it wouldn’t work on her, as she is impossible to get.  Brought my ego down a few pegs.” The captain said with a small chuckle.

“Thanks,” Wildwing said, not really sure if he felt better or worse.  The captain just confirmed that every drake on campus was after her, and she had turned down all the starting players of the main team.  Most mallards would kill each other to go out with them, so he thought he really didn’t stand a chance with her if she didn’t want any of them.  So, he threw himself into training and classes as he wanted to completely forget about the coffee place and the Ella, but it had now become one of the best places to hang out after a long day of training.  And tales of the beauty behind the counter had also spread far and wide adding to the allure of the great coffee house.

He was also still dying to talk to her.  He had seen her around the university so much, though he was sure she wasn’t a student at the main university and no one knew anything about her.  Apart from her name and that she worked full time at the café.

Whenever Wildwing and Canard practiced in the park he would see her walking to work or reading in the park.   He figured she must live quite close by, but he didn’t want to become a crazy stalker and scare her.  But every time he saw her, he was sure she would smile at him, or maybe she was smiling at both of them.  A few times when she was in the park, he had gone up to her and tried to speak, but every time she looked at him and smiled he lost his nerve and chickened out.  He was really starting to believe that he was part chicken.  Canard on the other hand had no problem talking to her, and would often engage her in conversation.  He was actually quite flirty towards her, which made Wildwing’s insides twist in an unpleasant way.  He thought that Canard was going to eventually ask her out, but Canard had promised that he would never ask her out.  Though, he did say that if she asked him out, he would definitely say yes.  Wildwing couldn’t argue with that statement at all and definitely wouldn’t hold it against him.

The boys saw her at the coffee house every time they went to it.  Though, it did take Wildwing a little while to return to the scene of his embarrassment and every time he walked into the café he felt a slight cringe of embarrassment.  But he and Canard still went in.  Wildwing hoped he would eventual get up the courage to talk to her.  He would watch her serving coffee and chatting to customers with such ease, but from what he heard nobody knew much about her, only her name.  He would see other students, who were so much more confident than he was, and who he thought had a lot more going for them, try to chat her up and ask her out.  And each time she had always declined.  This gave him hope and despair at the same time.  It made him so happy that she did not accept these other guys but the fact that he thought they were better than him made him question why she would ever go out with him.  They were so confident and chatted away with her so easily and he had yet to manage a full coherent sentence in her presence.

Canard always came with him for support.  At the very least he had to give Ella the order.  He did love talking to her though, and found her so attractive.  If Wildwing wasn’t completely head over heels for her, he would have asked her out on that first afternoon.  But like Wildwing he thought she wouldn’t accept his offer, and sometimes thought that she would never accept Wildwing either, yet he was sure he had seen something different in the way she looked at his friend.  He wished his friend would finally get the courage to talk to her though.  Every time it was the same thing.  They’d come in, sit down, Ella would come round to take their order, Wildwing would freeze up completely, Canard would give her their order, then they’d sit around talking about classes or hockey.

One night, when Nosedive had come for yet another visit, the three boys had decided to go to the Scene for a late night coffee, before hitting the bars of the University District.  The legal drinking age on Puckworld was sixteen and Nosedive could pass for sixteen when he wanted to.  Though, Wildwing sometimes felt a little guilty allowing his brother to drink illegally which is why he was always with him.  That way he knew Nosedive couldn’t get too drunk. 

When they entered the Scene they noticed a lot more people around than they would’ve thought for a Thursday night.  They looked around and saw Ella busy by the small stage area so Wildwing was able to go up and order the coffees while the other two found a table.  They managed to get one in the middle of the room.  It was quite lucky as the place filled up and in twenty minutes it became standing room only.  After the coffee was drank Nosedive wanted to head out and hit some bars, but the other two wanted to know what was happening.

After a few more minutes a hush came over the place as Ella got up to the microphone that was in the centre of the stage.  She looked incredible nervous, which was strange as she always seemed so confident speaking to customers.

“Hi everyone, welcome to the Scene for our first ever open mic night,” with that came a cheer from the crowd, “We’ve got some great performances lined up for you guys tonight which I hope you’ll enjoy.  So, with all that said, let’s bring on the first act!”  After that she ran off the stage, blushing quite obviously, as a group of guys got up on the stage. 

She began talking to an older couple, who were the owners of the Scene.  Most of the staff was made up of college students who worked part time for extra money, but there were a few older, full time staff members.  The joint owners being two of them.  They would often be there during the day and some nights.  There was also an older female who was one of the managers, who was there when the owner weren’t.  All three were there this evening, obviously to see if this event would be successful or not.  It seemed that Ella was one of the few younger staff members that was actually a full time member of staff.

The night was quite good.  There were a few horrendous performances, including one comedian who didn’t know what the word funny meant, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the show, even Nosedive.  As the night was coming to a close Ella got up on the stage with a guitar.  She looked nervous surveying the crowd.  And for a second it looked like she was going to turn around and walk right back off the stage.  But the girl took a deep breath before making her way across the stage to a round of applause and taking a seat on the stool that had been placed next to the microphone.

“Well, I’m the last act of the night, and I’ll be singing a song I wrote, and I hope you all like it.”

As she strummed her guitar her sweet voice sang out in a sweet harmony.

_“A fire burns, water comes, and you cool me down.  When I'm cold inside, you are warm and bright, you know you are so good for me, yeah.  With your child's eyes, you are more than you seem, you see into space.  I see in your face, the places you've been, the things you have learned, they sit with you so beautifully._

_“You know there's no need to hide away, you know I tell the truth, we are just the same.  I can feel everything you do, hear everything you say, even when you're miles away, cause I am me, the universe and you._

_“And just like stars burning bright, making holes in the night, we are building bridges.  You know there's no need to hide away.  You know I tell the truth, we are just the same.  I can feel everything you do, hear everything you say, even when you're miles away, cause I am me, the universe and you.  I'm the universe and you._

_“When you're on your own, I'll send you a sign, just so you know, I am me, the universe and you.  The universe and you.  The universe and you.  I am the universe and you”_

Her voice was perfect for the folksy acoustic style that she was playing in.  Her song was catchy and sung perfectly.  It was such a sweet song and everyone seemed mesmerised, but through the entire song Canard noticed that Ella seemed to be singing to only one person in the entire place.  The tall drake sitting next to him, who was looking at the girl like she had hung the moon.  This made him feel there was hope for Wildwing yet.  Of course, she could have been so nervous that she was focussing on one spot and Wildwing just happened to be occupying that spot.

After Ella had finished playing there was rapturous applause as she got off the stage, but she didn’t stay to indulge in the attention.  She simply walked off, blushing immensely, put her apron back on and went to hide behind the counter.  They all saw her being congratulated by her managers and co-workers, but she seemed to shy away from the attention.  It seemed that the girl was actually very shy when dealing with lots of people, and performing had pushed her over the edge a little.  A few male customers tried to come up to talk to her as well, but she politely excused herself and continued working.  There was one who didn’t want to take no for an answer, and in the end, it was the owner who had to ask him to leave.

The atmosphere in the coffee house was very energetic after the open mike night, but after a while Nosedive finally won and they headed out to a club, but not before both Wildwing and Ella eyes caught across the café.  This made Wildwing’s heart skip a beat, and though he didn’t know it at the time, hers also skipped a beat as well.  Ella had formed a very high opinion of the young drake since she had seen him take the table dive, and still stay in the café while everyone else was laughing at him.  She thought that it was a fairly strong male to do that.  She also liked that he wasn’t overly confident or brash, like some of the other drakes had been to her.  She liked that he was rather shy, because she was rather shy too.  She didn’t like to be the centre of attention, and really felt uncomfortable with all the male attention she was receiving.  They were only giving her attention because she was pretty, none of them actually wanted to know who she was.  It made her life quite lonely, but she hoped that one day she would find some other people who wanted to know her and would accept her as she was.

After a few hours at the club Wildwing left both Canard and Nosedive to the females at the club.  They all seemed to be quite the centre of attention, well Canard was.  All the girls seemed so impressed that he was team captain of the first year team and was so dedicated.  As well as quite handsome.  And some of the girls quite enjoyed Nosedive’s energy on the dance floor, as well as his unique style and currently purple mane.  Wildwing on the other hand, only had eyes for Ella and couldn’t help but think over what happened earlier that evening.  He was sure that she had smiled at him, and that she was looking at him during her song.  He really wanted to get to know her, sure she was really pretty, but she was also so interesting.  He had seen her reading senior level textbooks and making notes just for fun, and now she was also musical and artistic.  She spoke to the language groups that met in the coffee place, fluently in the language they were practising.  She was just amazing.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t realise that he had walked a familiar route back to the front entrance of the Scene.  It was closed and he assumed that everyone, including Ella, would be home by now.  That’s when he heard it.  Her voice, but it wasn’t the usually sweet song tone.  It seemed a little distressed.  Wildwing decided it was best to check if she was ok, just to be on the safe side.  So he went around to the side of the café, which seemed to be where the disturbance was coming from.

“I told you no, now please leave,” came Ella’s voice, which was trying to sound calm and firm, but a slight quiver gave her away.

“Aw babe, you not going to reconsider?  I can take you to a really great party,” came a male voice that Wildwing didn’t recognise.  He could see he was huge and towering right beside her.  He was one of the guys he had seen trying to chat her up a few times and had also tried to pull her off to the side during the open mike night.  She was standing by the side door of the café, having obviously been the one to close up.  There were also three other guys were scattered down the alley.

“I don’t want to go to a party, I just want to go home.  It’s been a very long day, and I have to work early tomorrow morning,” Ella said, more firmly to the lead guy, looking around at the other three guys waiting a little further down the alley.  The guy in front of her suddenly stood up straight, his vast height baring down on her.  Wildwing saw her take a step back, a little startled.  He knew this was going to end very badly if he didn’t intervene.

“Well then babe, how ‘bout me and you go somewhere quiet to… relax.” It was a statement rather than a question.  He would only accept a yes answer.

“N-no, I have to get home, I have to work early tomorrow morning,” She said, starting to sound obviously scared.  The four guys were all slightly drunk and a little menacing.  They could easily overpower her and make her do what they wanted.  And she couldn’t fight back.  She would be in even more trouble if she fought back than if she just tried to run.

“It wasn’t a request sweetheart,” The lead guy said with a slight growl in his voice.  He then grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him, while the three other guys began to move towards them.

“Hey!” Shouted Wildwing as he made his way towards the small crowd down the alley.

“What do you want, can’t you see we’re having a private conversation here.”  Said the lead thug.

“What, with three other guys watching?” Wildwing Retorted.  “The lady here says she wants to go home, so I think you should respect her decision, let go of her arm and let her be on her way.”

“Oh really?  And you gonna make me, tough guy?”  He said, pulling Ella closer to him while the three other guys started to round on Wildwing.

“I would rather you respect her decision to leave,” This made the other four guys laugh quite cruelly.  The leader then twisted Ella around and held her close.  He saw Ella wince in pain and try to pull away.

“Let go of me!”  She screamed as she stamped on his foot.  This did make him let her go, but as she stumbled forward he grabbed her arm and slapped her across the face with all his might.  This sent Ella flying into the wall, connecting with a crunch before sliding down into a heap on the dirty floor of the alley.

This made Wildwing see red and before he knew what he was doing he had launched himself at the leader, knocking him over, before punching him in the face.  One of the other guys then grabbed Wildwing off their leader and held him while the other two lay into him with all their might, punching him in the stomach, chest and across the face.

“Stop it!” Ella suddenly yelled as she hit the guy holding Wildwing over the head with a trash can lid, slightly dazing and setting Wildwing free in the process.  Wildwing used this opportunity to punch one of the other guys in the face, knocking him clean out while the other shot forward to grapple him.  However, he was prepared for this and managed to throw him over his shoulders into the large trash cans that lined the alley wall.

“Let’s go, that whore isn’t worth it.”  Came the voice of the leader after surveying the damaged that had been done to his lackeys.  So he and the other two guys carrying the third turned and left.

Once they had left Ella came and towards Wildwing, though he hadn’t noticed her yet.  He was so high on adrenaline.  When she reached to help him up he flinched, expecting another attack.

“Oh my gods, you’re bleeding!” He heard Ella exclaim from beside him.

“It’s really not that bad, it’ll be fine.”  Wildwing said as he got up, swaying slightly due to the blow to the head.  He finally noticed the blood that was clouding over one eye and the metallic taste on his tongue.

“Don’t be ridiculous, come inside and I’ll help you clean it up.” Ella said as she started to unlock the door, before grabbing Wildwing’s arm and dragging him inside.  She then proceeded to turn on the lights and forced him to sit down on one of the comfy chairs that had the best lighting.  After that she went behind the counter to pull out the first aid box and came and sat in front of Wildwing.

“Thank you, by the way,” Ella said quietly as she was cleaning off the blood from Wildwing’s face, “Those guys really didn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘No’.  You know this isn’t quite as deep as I thought it was, it’s just bleeding quite a bit.”

“Yeah, they weren’t very smart for University students,” Wildwing chuckled before the pain in his eye and beak made him wince.   This made her smile, the sweet smile that gave Wildwing butterflies in his stomach.

“What’s so funny?”  He asked looking into her green eyes.  He had never seen eyes like that.  He was sure they weren’t one shade of green, but many shades making her eyes look like a forest.

“That’s the most you’ve said to me in over a month.”  Ella said, with mirth shining from her eyes. 

Wildwing looked like a deer trapped in the headlights.  He knew that he hadn’t made the best first impression, but he at least hoped that she hadn’t really noticed him.  He felt mortified, but when he looked up she was still smiling.

“My names Ella, Ella Piedléger,” she said offering him her hand.

“Wildwing Flashblade.”  He said taking her hand and lightly shaking it.

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you and hear you talk.” Ella said with a shy smile as she bandaged the wound on his beak.  Wildwing smiled at this statement and relaxed into her delicate touch. 

“I, uh, hear you’re a great goalie,” Ella finally said after a moment of silence.

“Yeah, well, not great, you know, I’d say ok.  I’m actually here on scholarship.  If you want, there’s a game on Saturday.  It’ll the first game where I’m starting goalie.  Do you want to come?”  Wildwing asked hopefully.  He knew that she would say no, why would she say yes.  All of the other drakes on the team would have probably asked the same thing.

“That would be nice.” Ella said after a few moments, “But, I don’t think I’ll be able to get the time off, it is quite last minute.”

Wildwing looked rather deflated, he had thought for a second that she would say yes. 

“I’ll try though, I haven’t actually been to any of the games this year,” Ella said after a moment with a small smile on her face.

“You don’t have to; I understand if you can’t.” Wildwing said quickly.

“I know, I’ll try,” Ella said finishing her attention to the gash on Wildwing’s forehead.  She began to put the medical kit away when Wildwing put his hand onto hers, stopping her actions.

“If you want, I could walk you home.  You know, to make sure nothing bad happens again,” Wildwing said nervously.  Maybe this was pushing it a little too much, he had finally spoken to her, and he shouldn’t push his luck.

“I’d really appreciate that.  I really don’t like walking home alone at night, especially when there’s a drinking promotion on.  It makes drakes like that too forward,” Ella said with a sad sigh.  She walked over to the counter to put the first aid kit back.

“You’re shy?” Wildwing blurted out, before clasping his hands around his beak.  He didn’t mean to state this in front of her.  He had been beginning to suspect that she was shy, but he would have never said it to her.

“That obvious?  I don’t really know how to talk to lots of people, and definitely that many at once.  It was mostly me and my brother growing up, and we kept to ourselves a lot of the time.” Ella rambled while fiddling with a lot of the things behind the counter.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this?” Ella eventually said as she stopped and looked at the drake in front of her.  She began to fidget again, a nervous habit her brother always chastised her for.  Thinking about her brother always made her heart hurt.  But, this drake actually made her feel comfortable, which was very unusual for Ella. 

“That’s ok, I don’t mind.  Do you want to go now?” Wildwing asked, coming closer to Ella, taking her bag from the counter.  Ella nodded her agreement to go, she didn’t really want to speak anymore as she didn’t trust herself with what she could say.

The walk back to Ella’s apartment was slightly awkward.  Both Wildwing and Ella were nervous being alone with each other, and both had tried to start a conversation and failed.  Now they were just walking in silence across the park.

“Do you live on the other side of the park then?” Wildwing eventually asked.

“Yeah, Dip, the owner of the Scene, he’s letting me rent this apartment really cheaply in exchange for being cheap labour and doing it up.  Dip actually owns quite a lot of places around the campus, and rents them out to the students,” Ella rambled again as they walked through some plain apartment buildings.  Wildwing knew that some of the older students would rent these to live off campus and away from the rules of the Resident Advisors.

“You ramble a little when you’re nervous,” Wildwing said with a small grin.

“Hey,” Ella said punching Wildwing’s arm in indignation, “I’m trying!  You couldn’t even say a complete sentence to me!”

“I was nervous!  And embarrassed!  I had just performed an epic table dive in front of so many ducks who were all laughing and me.  And they you came over, and uh, I was nervous!” Wildwing exclaimed catching her arm in his hand and accidentally pulling her close to his body, that they were almost beak to beak.  The two young ducks were both too shocked to move.  The contact was so sudden and unexpected.

“Uh, this is my apartment block,” Ella said quietly, looking into Wildwing’s dark eyes.  The dark eyes were looking directly into her green eyes.  They were standing in front of one of the buildings that had a glass fronted entry way.  It looked well maintained and secure.

“Ok, do you want me to walk you up?” Wildwing said hopefully, still unable to look away from the duck that had somehow found herself in his arms.

“No, thank you, I should be ok from here,” Ella said as she finally moved away from Wildwing so she could open her door.

“Ella,” Wildwing called quickly fiddling with his jacket.  He finally found the item that he was searching for, his wallet.

“Yeah?” Ella said curiously, coming back to stand next to Wildwing.

“Here, it’s a ticket for Saturday’s game,” He said handing her the small slip of paper.  Every member of the team always got two free tickets, and so far, he had only ever used one.  Usually for Nosedive.  This was the first time he had ever given a ticket away.

“Thank you, for everything,” Ella said taking the ticket from Wildwing’s hand.  Their fingers brushing as she did so.

“You’re welcome,” Wildwing said softly, smiling at the green eyed duck as she took the ticket and turned to go inside her apartment.  She waved slightly as she closed the door behind her and Wildwing watched through the glass panelling as she began to walk up the stairs, occasionally looking behind her and smiling.

The walk back to the accommodation block was a blur as Wildwing was walking on cloud nine.  Not only had he actually had a conversation with Ella, he had saved her from some thugs.  He was like her hero now, and she said she was going to come and watch him play in the Saturday game.  Well, she might come, but Wildwing didn’t care.  He was going to be optimistic this time. 

Ella, on the other had was confused.  She was so used to be alone, that she didn’t know if she could let another person in.  Let alone a drake.  Yet, he seemed so sweet and caring.  She didn’t think that he would hurt her.  But then again, she never thought that her brother would hurt her like he had done.  She let out a sigh as she closed her apartment door and looked around.

It was a far cry from the luxury hotel suites that Ella had known as a child.  The walls were still bare drywall, and there was no furniture other than a table and a singular chair.  Most of the appliances hadn’t been installed yet and she only had minimal cooking apparatus to work with.  Not that she could cook anyway.  The bedroom and bathroom weren’t much better either.  They only had the basic furniture, nothing else.  Not that Ella really had much use for a giant wardrobe or chest of drawers.  She didn’t have many clothes anyway.  During her first week her boss had given her an advance on her pay cheque so that she could buy some necessities, which included clothes, underwear and a new-ish pair of boots.  They barely filled the box that was acting as a dresser.  The only thing she really had of value was her mother’s pearl necklace that she had hidden under her mattress.

She did still have a training area though.  Swordsmanship was so important to her family that she felt guilty about not continuing.  When she was locked up she still went through all the movements that she had spent years learning.  Though she only had a wooden training staff instead of her heirloom, silver Ducksabre, which had been confiscated when she was arrested and never returned.  She also had a third-hand guitar, which had been gifted to her by Dip, who never used the thing anymore.  The sheet music that she carried around from place to place as a child was one the few comforts that she was able to replicate.  Music often became an escape, along with her swordsmanship.  So, she had created spaces in her new environment to lose herself.

When she looked around her surroundings she sometimes thought that maybe she should contact her brother.  Yet, Ella couldn’t and wouldn’t contact Duke.  If she did then that would mean entering his world again, the world where she would be a wanted thief with nothing really to her name, other than her infamous reputation.  This tiny, dingy apartment was given to her out of good will, for a girl who had gone straight after serving her time.  This apartment would get better, and so would her life.  All she had to do was try, and maybe let some others help her.  That line of thought made her think of Wildwing again. 

It had been a long time since anyone had embraced her.  And an even longer time since she had let them.  But he was somehow different.  He figured out that she was shy, rather than playing hard to get.  He had actually tried to just talk to her, rather than ask her out.  He seemed to actually see her.  She couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing now as she got ready for bed.

Wildwing was also thinking about Ella, as he had been doing for the past few hours as he waited for his brother and friend to return.  The room which Wildwing shared with Canard was rather small, and had two twin beds.  The walls were beige and boring, though the boys did try to personalise it with posters of their favourite hockey players.  There were also two desks, two chairs, two bookcases and two chests of drawers.  And, at the moment, a whole mess of clothes and pillows, as well as a sleeping bag, on the floor.  They usually tried to keep the room as tidy as they could, but with Nosedive sleeping on the floor, that was an impossibility.

“Hey Wing!” Nosedive said loudly as he entered the small room, seeing his brother still awake and lying on his bed.

“Hey, you’re still awake?” Canard said slightly more quietly, entering the room and taking off his jacket.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Wildwing said with a small smile to himself.

“Well bro, you missed a seriously good time.  But then again, if you’re only gonna pine for a girl who wouldn’t give you the time of day, that’s your decision,” Nosedive said as he got changed and then climbed into his sleeping bag on the floor.  Instantly falling asleep and snoring lightly.

“Hey, you ok Wing?  You seem, I don’t know, different?” Canard asked as he stripped off his shirt and pants and crawled into bed.

“I’m great,” Wildwing said with a big small as he thought of Ella’s big green eyes looking up at him as he held her close to his body.  He could still smell her shampoo and was trying to keep the memory as fresh as he could.  Canard, of course saw the big grin on his friend’s face and would not take that simple answer.  So, he began probing him for more information.

“I, uh, ran into Ella,” Wildwing said, a grin fully plastered onto his beak.

“You talked to her?  What happened?” Canard asked, sitting up and fully awake.

“I actually, kind of saved her from some thugs,” Wildwing said, looking up at his friends encouraging face.  It didn’t take much for Canard to get the rest of the story from his friend, and he was quite shocked at the progress Wildwing had suddenly made.

“I told you she liked you,” Canard said with a smirk, “I bet she does come to the game.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope someone is enjoying this and reading it, I really enjoyed writing it.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback to the present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit more

Chapter Six

 

Nosedive didn’t come back out for the rest of the afternoon, he stayed and talked with his brother, as he felt that his brother needed the cathartic act of letting all his pent up frustrations out.  Unfortunately, Wildwing had an appointment with the manufacturer of their uniforms at four o’clock that afternoon, then another meeting with the chairmen of NHL to discuss the off season exhibition games.  Wildwing always seemed to have a lot of appointments now a days.  And each appointment sank him further into his depression, as each appointment cemented in his mind that they were here to stay and he would never return home to find Ella.

Nosedive decided to go back into the common room once his brother had changed into one of his many suits, so as to look professional, and left with Phil.  He was hoping to get some leftovers for dinner, but he was a little surprised to find that it was empty.  He had hoped that Roxie, or Grin at least, would still be around, though he did see that they had left some vegetable chilli for him.

“So, where is the fearless leader?”  A feminine voice asked when the doors opened behind Nosedive, revealing a girl of average height but with unusual hair.   The sight caused Nosedive to do a little reminiscing about the girl who had been a permanent fixture around the Pond for almost three years, and had become his best friend.  He remembered all the good times they had together, as well as all the bad. He remembered when he almost lost her, both to an emotional upheaval and to the Saurians.  He got so involved in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Duke coming in behind Roxie, or Roxie coming closer.  He also didn’t notice the silent conversation between Duke and Roxie, or that Duke stood a lot closer to her than a platonic friend should.

 “Yo, Dive!” Roxie’s raised voice brought Nosedive out of his recollection.  He looked up and saw Roxie staring at him, with Duke standing quite close behind her.  Nosedive often wondered what the deal between those two was, ever since the morning that he caught Roxie leaving Duke’s room half dressed.  There were also a few other incidents after that one.  Yet, he never asked as he was afraid of what the answer would be.  The always seemed to stand a lot closer together than before, and Nosedive would see him touching her a lot more than was normal.  Plus, there were the occasional bruises that she would desperately cover up before Nosedive could see them.  Also, Duke would often get a little territorial around Roxie when other men flirted with her.

After spending all day with his older brother, reminiscing about the lost love of his life, and remembering the time when he almost lost his best friend, it all became a little too much for the slightly emotional drake.  He walked right up to the rainbow haired girl and took her into his arms, rubbing the tip of his beak across her hairline, which was quite an intimate gesture on Puckworld. 

Duke was rather shocked at the sudden show of affection from Nosedive.  He thought that since that night three years ago, when Nosedive had asked Roxie out, the two decided to just be friends.  But no, the way that he saw the younger drake’s beak caressing Roxie’s hairline had caused his back to stiffen slightly.  Every time a male came too close to Roxie, or would touch her some way that was not platonic Duke would feel slightly territorial.  Luckily, Roxie had no idea how intimate that gesture was and just shrugged it off.  This, of course, made Duke secretly quite happy.  He knew he shouldn’t get too possessive over Roxie, but sometimes he really couldn’t help it.  Especially around Nosedive, those two just seemed to have a connection that he couldn’t comprehend.

“Come on, Dive, stop being all sappy!  What’s happening to Boss Duck, then?” Roxie asked as pushed Nosedive’s beak away from her hairline with a grin.  Though, she did allow Nosedive to pull her into a loose, one armed hug. 

“Oh, he’s fine, just getting a bit run down I think.  You know, with all this managerial and corporate stuff,” Nosedive said running his hand gently up and down Roxie’s shoulder in a comforting manner.  The gesture wasn’t lost on Duke, who had started to move closer to Roxie in order to reassert his presence to the unknowing female.

“What are you guys up to?” Nosedive eventually said, eyeing the pair up suspiciously. 

“Well,” Duke started, grabbing hold of Roxie’s hand, then twirling her and bringing her body close to his and, more importantly, away from Nosedive’s.  His arms then encircled her waist, bringing her hips flush against his body, while she leaned her upper body back in a noiseless giggle.

“I was trying to get this fine female to join me for a night of hot, steamy, X-rated fun, but she seems to think that a horror or sci-fi movie marathon might be better.  What do you say kid?” Duke answered with a sly smirk while Roxie just shook her head and ignored the tightening of her loins as Dukes hand caressed her thighs, bringing her leg and around his hip.  Roxie knew that Duke had gotten a little bit more possessive recently and decided to quell this behaviour.  So, she pushed the older drake off her body and moved away from the two ducks towards the TV.

“How ‘bout we do both.  I say that we do sci-fi slash horror movies.  So, as long as we start with _The Thing_ though _,_ after that I’d be up for anything.  Except maybe a hot, steamy night of X-rated fun with you, Duke.  Sorry dude, but I don’t swing that way,” Nosedive said with a joyously.  He then jumped over the couch and ran to see if Grin and Tanya wanted to join them for an impromptu movie night, leaving the other two alone.

“So, hot, steamy, X-rated fun?” Roxie said with a sly smile as she bent over to retrieve the desired movie from cupboard under the enormous TV.  As soon as she her back was turned she felt a familiar hand stroking her buttocks, right over the bruise he had left there the night before.  Duke had moved silently to stand behind her from almost across the room as soon as Nosedive had vacated it.

“You know you enjoy it, sweetheart,” Duke crooned, moving to stand right behind his lover, gripping her hips with both of his hands.  He then pulled her body up and closer to his, enjoying the feeling of her back completely flush against his front and holding her firmly.  At first it was merely an itch they both had to scratch, but would barely admit to and would often feel guilty about the next morning.  Now though, it was more than a guilty pleasure, and they had been indulging in more frequently over the last three years.

Normally Duke wouldn’t let himself succumb to his desire to touch her in the communal area, but seeing her in Nosedive’s arms had caused a possessive streak through his being.  And usually Roxie would rebuke such public behaviour, but for some reason she relaxed into his touch and let him continue with his firm ministrations.  A slight sound caused Duke to stop with a groan of frustration and move away, taking his seat on the couch as he heard Grin entering the room.  Though, he couldn’t help but give the girl a wink.  Which she rolled her eyes to and began to search for the movie again.

“So, I heard _The Thing_ is on offer?” Grin said as he sat down next to Duke, noticing the way the grey drake was looking at the girl, who was bent over again.  She finally found it and knelt next to the DVD player, putting the disc into the player and pausing it when the titles came up.  She then sat down next to Duke, closer than she would normally sit so he could continue with the slight caresses through the movie.  She knew that she would once again end up in his room that evening.

After a few moments Nosedive returned, bringing Tanya and Mallory with him.  It seemed that the allure of a random movie evening could draw Tanya out of the lab and Mallory out of her brooding.  And, between the three of them, they had managed to carry and wide and varied assortment of everything their dietician had banned.  This, of course, made Duke and Grin giddy with excitement.  After all, they understood why they shouldn’t eat all the greasy, fatty snack foods, and drink the bottles of wine and beer that were being put out on the table, but that didn’t mean that they appreciated being told.  And, one night of indulging in everything that was off limits wouldn’t hurt in the grand scheme of things.  Besides, it was currently the off season for hockey.  Though, Wildwing and Coach Duncan still kept them somewhat busy with practices.

Ever since their first year on Earth, Phil had been bringing on all types of professionals to help the ducks win the league.  When the team was first introduced six years ago Phil had managed to get the old team’s personal physician, equipment manager and catering team.  He had tried to get the coach back, but the ducks had refused to allow a human to coach them on something that they had been doing since they could walk.  But, after their defeat at the final of the Stanley Cup, Phil had persuaded Wildwing that a human coach could help them understand how humans played hockey.  Which Wildwing had agreed to.  After that it was a floodgate of ideas on how to improve the team so that they could finally win the Stanley Cup.  It took a while, but the ducks had finally gotten a good support team who understood what they wanted and needed from them.  And, since Roxie and Wildwing had managed to curtail some of Phil’s more ridiculous publicity stunts, along with Phil’s new PA, the ducks were more relaxed with their place on Earth.

Once the snacks were spread out over the table and Nosedive had ordered several large, and extra cheesy pizzas for delivery, Duke opened and poured several glasses of chilled white wine.  He then offered them to the females first, but only Tanya and Roxie accepted the glasses.  He tried to pass some glasses to Grin and Nosedive, but both declined and took the opened bottles of beer that Mallory offered.

“You all have no taste,” Duke said quietly as he sat back against the comfy couch with his glass of wine in his right hand and his left arm over the back of the couch.  Nosedive had collapsed on the couch next to Roxie, causing the smaller girl to move closer to Duke’s body.  Which suited him fine, as it meant that he could continue to caress his lover throughout the movie.  The other two females were sitting on either side of Grin, to use his larger frame as protection.  As, even though horror movies were the most agreed upon genre for the team, Mallory and Tanya often got spooked during them.  So, by sitting on either side of Grin, they could hide behind his massive girth every time something really bad happened.  After everyone was settled into the couch Nosedive turned off the light and Roxie turned on the movie.  Though, everyone was quite aware that someone was missing, but no one mentioned it out loud.

The pizzas were delivered after the first movie finished.  And, while Roxie went to collect them from upstairs, the rest of the ducks debated what should be the next movie.  This was where Nosedive took command, and by the time Roxie returned with several pizza boxes, Nosedive had cued up the next movie and had the rest of the watch list all planned out.

“Hey, Kid, where’d you get the bottles?” Duke asked after realising that there were more bottles on the table than before.  He could see some imported beer, several more bottles of wine, as well as various spirits and mixers.  Everything you needed for a long night of movies.

“Uh, bottom shelves, they’re the ‘not to be saved’ shelves right?” Roxie said, uncertain, as she poured herself another glass of wine from a fresh bottle.  While she was up she had made a trip to Duke’s room to get a few more bottles of wine from his personal wine cabinet, as well as all the spirits she could find from his drinks cabinet.  As the dietician had purged the kitchen of all alcoholic beverages several weeks back, but Duke had refused her entrance into his room to do the same thing with his collection.  The only bottles that were saved in the kitchen were the ones Roxie snuck in, past the dietician, and hid so only her and Nosedive could find them.

“Top shelves, Kid, bottom shelves are the reserve, middle is ok though,” Duke said with a sigh, now knowing that the bottle that Roxie was drinking from was a special reserve he had gotten two years ago during an away game.  At least she looked rather sheepish while sipping on her expensive glass of wine, and when she refilled Tanya and his glasses.  Again, no one questioned how she had gotten into Duke’s room or knew where his drinks were hidden.

“You’re making this up to me later,” Duke whispered with a smirk as Roxie took her seat next to him.

“I’ll look forward to it,” the girl answered with a sly smile, clinking her glass to his, as the light was turned off again and the next movie started.

After the second movie had finished, Nosedive suggest that they should all play a movie based drinking game, and Roxie seconded the idea with great vigour.  He then proceeded to refill everyone’s drinks and explain the rules of the _Alien_ drinking game.  Once that was done and the lights were dimmed for a third time the team then proceeded to watch and drink to _Alien._

Meanwhile, Wildwing’s meeting with the manufacturer of the teams equipment had run long, as Phil had argued every point of the contract.  At least now Wildwing could see it was a good thing that Phil was their manager, as the rotund human was ruthless when it came to contract negotiation.  But, at least they managed to get the new equipment and merchandise manufactured without too much of a price increase, and with more of the profits going towards the Mighty Ducks themselves.  Unfortunately, since they were running late they had to go straight to the dinner with the chairman of the NHL from that meeting, and they also had to pick up Coach Duncan on the way.

The dinner was quite nice, but exhausting.  And one of the managers of the other Western teams was new and seemed to have forgotten that Wildwing was not only an alien bird, but an alien duck.  When the duck pâté was served as a starter to the assembled men Wildwing may have turned an obvious shade of green before rushing off to the washroom to vomit.  The manager and the waiter was properly chastised by the chairman and the coach of his team, while the captain apologised profusely to Wildwing, once he had returned from the bathroom.  After the offending dish was removed from the table, and the restaurant’s menu as an apology, the assembled group got down to the business of drafting the exhibition schedule.  They also managed to do a little socialising, which Wildwing quite enjoyed.  Though, he was still the youngest seated at the table, and each of the occupants of the table kept on reminding him of this.  It was all in good fun, but when they started to mention wives and girlfriends Wildwing couldn’t help but feel a little morose.

When the dinner was finally finished the three from the Mighty Ducks franchise had to drive back to Anaheim from downtown Los Angeles, where the restaurant was located, in Phil’s vintage Cadillac.  During this time they did manage to get a lot of finalisation done on the team schedule for the pre-season period.  After Phil dropped Duncan off at his home, Phil then drove Wildwing back to the Pond, where he tried to get Wildwing to accept some new publicity stunts.  What followed was a long, drawn out argument about what the team will and won’t do.  By the time they reached the pond Wildwing was at the end of his tether, and gave a point blank ultimatum.  That Phil had to hire a new PR agent who would liaise with Johner, Phil’s PA, Phil and himself.  They would also have a meeting every two weeks to discuss the publicity of the team, and Duncan would be involved to give his opinion on the interaction of the publicity stunts and training schedules. 

“Fine, fine, I’ll put out an advertisement tomorrow and set up some interviews,” Phil said resignedly.  He missed the days when he only had to deal with the Duck’s crime fighting escapades.  The days before some of the more responsible members of the team got involved in the management side of things.  He still had nightmares about the first time Duke had looked over the financial details of the contracts and re-drafted them.  He had shown up in Phil’s office at his full height and sabre in hand, stating that they would not sign these contracts until the financial settlements were adjusted.  Now anything financial had to go through both Wildwing and Duke.

“And make sure to go through Roxie and Johner, you know they know every PR person worth knowing in the entirety of Southern California,” Wildwing said pointedly, causing Phil to groan in frustration.  That girl had caused Phil nothing but trouble since she appeared, purely because she was looking out for her friends rather than looking out for the profits.  But, he did agree that her connections were good for the team and he had taken advantage of them a fair few times.  And, she had managed to get him invited to a lot more parties than he had before.

The two discussed the contracts a little bit more before saying goodbye.  Wildwing had finished reading them, but he still had to hand them over to Duke to look over.  Hopefully, everything will be done and dusted before the week was over and the contracts could go to the NHL management team soon.  Phil made arrangements to discuss everything with Wildwing and Duke tomorrow, as well as having a general pre-season meeting.  So, at last, Wildwing was finally free from all the corporate things that had been piled on him for that day.  And it was with a sigh and a wave that he watched Phil drive out of the parking lot, before turning around and walking back into the Pond.  His only thought was collapsing into his nice warm bed and sleeping. 

Now, considering it was now past midnight and they had an early morning practice scheduled, Wildwing definitely thought that everyone would have gone to bed by the time he re-entered the common room.  What greeted him was something that did little to ease his rather frustrated mood.  There were ten empty, extra-large, pizza boxes spread around all the back tables of the room.  Amidst the empty boxes were empty packets of chips, cakes and doughnuts, which were all against the dieticians suggestions.  The coffee table was full of the snacks that had yet to be finished, as well as several half full bottles of wine and beer, as well as a couple of bottles of liquor.  Wildwing didn’t even bother to count the empty bottles.  And that was nothing compared to those who were sitting on the couches.

They were all obviously quite inebriated, and had not noticed his entrance into the room, their focus mostly centred on something else.  It seemed they were all watching a movie, _Aliens_ by the look of it.  Occasionally someone would call out the word drink, which everyone obliged to.  This explained why everyone was so drunk.  As someone would call ‘drink’ out every two minutes.

Wildwing could see that Tanya was the most affected, as she was the one who indulged in alcohol the least of everyone present.  She was practically passed out while leaning into Grin, hugging him as if he was a giant teddy bear.  While Grin seemed to not have noticed the body that much and was staring, unfocusedly at the TV.  Mallory was switching between staring at the TV and staring across the room with a very deep frown, and Wildwing could see why. 

On the floor, leaning against the couch, was Nosedive who was having a very loud and animated conversation with Roxie.  Both of whom were drinking the heaviest and the most frequently.  Roxie was leaning forward so that she was on the edge of her seat and she could talk to Nosedive.  Unfortunately, her top had ridden up at the back and Wildwing could see that Mallory was staring at the dark grey hand that was stroking and rubbing up and down the girls back, and that it would occasionally dip past the waistline of her pants.  Wildwing could also see that her hand was stroking Duke’s upper thigh.  Luckily, Nosedive didn’t notice this.

“Alright!” Wildwing shouted, turning on the light and causing a huge uproar from the assembled ducks and Roxie.  All of whom moved to sit upright and turn to watch their leader.  It was at this point that the credits to the movie started rolling, signalling the end of the movie.

“Hey bro!  Where ya been?” Nosedive yelled, catching sight of his brother as he walked across to turn off the TV.  He tried to get up, but the amount of alcohol in his system made that impossible.

“Hey, we were watching that!” Nosedive yelled angrily once the TV went black.

“The credits were rolling, you obviously couldn’t have been watching that closely,” Wildwing said as he stood in front of the TV.  He eyed up the empty boxes, packets, cartoons, and bottles before looking at the team.  His facial expressing showing that he was not amused by what he saw and asking for an explanation.

“Sorry, Wildwing, this was my idea, and I brought out the drinks too.  I just thought it would be nice to do something fun and spontaneous,” Roxie said guiltily, as she glanced around the room looking at the state of some of the ducks.  She also noticed Wildwing and Mallory looking at the hand that had still not moved off her bare back.  The other more conscious ducks all took some responsibility as well, saying that they all agreed to the plan knowing that they shouldn’t have really indulged too much.

“Don’t worry about it, just clean this mess up.  And then get to bed, we have practice scheduled for eight and we will be running circuit drills to make up for all the junk you’ve eaten tonight.  And Roxie, you’re gonna service all the vehicles as well as all the electronics, while they’re running their drills.  And de-bug Drake One while you’re at it.  Grin, take Tanya to her room, I doubt she could get there under her own steam.  Duke I need to talk to you when you’re all finished,” Wildwing instructed.

The ducks, except Tanya, then all set about cleaning up the mess of the room, while Roxie sorted out the entertainment centre.  It didn’t take that long, and when it was done, Grin lifted Tanya up bridal style so he could carry the now sleeping female back to her room.  As soon as she was lifted up she snuggled and gripped Grin, and mumbled something about teddy bears protecting the computer chips.  The others all said goodnight to the older drake and their leader before making their way back to the accommodation wing.

“She’s gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow morning, you sure about those drills?  She might not make it,” Duke said gesturing towards the retreating back of Grin before letting his eyes rove up and down Roxie’s curvy form.  The girl turned around to give Duke a salacious look before disappearing down the corridor.  It took a throat being cleared behind him for Duke to actually snap back to the room.

“What’s up Wing?” Duke asked the unimpressed leader.

“I thought I told you to be discreet,” Wildwing said pointedly.  Over the years, Duke had acted as his second in command, and his sounding board.  At first it felt awkward to be giving someone over a decade older than him orders, but Duke always took it well.  And would often offer up advice on how to better manage the individuals of the team without being condescending or trying to take control.  It was a friendship and comradery that Wildwing had come to value most during his time on Earth.  But occasionally Wildwing did have to curtail some of Duke’s actions, and he had to have many conversations about his behaviour towards Roxie over the past few years.

“Seriously, this again.  Look, we’re both adults, we weren’t being too demonstrative, and no one noticed,” Duke started.

“Mallory noticed, and she did not look happy,” Wildwing countered.

“Look, it’s not my problem that Mallory has a bee in her bonnet ‘bout what I do, privately I might add, with Roxie.  It doesn’t interfere with the team, and shouldn’t be anyone’s business but ours.  I’m sure she’s just jealous that she’s not getting any, or likely to get any anytime soon.  Now, is that it, cause I have better things to do than listen to a lecture about my personal life,” Duke said, sounding a little hostile.

“I’m not trying to lecture you.  I just don’t want to have to deal with Mallory again.  She’s been on my case a lot about you two, and I’m quite honestly sick of hearing it.  Listen, we need to have a meeting tomorrow with Phil about the contracts, as well as some other stuff.  So, I need you to skim the contracts after practice, and before the meeting at four.  Think you can do it?” Wildwing asked, taking the contracts out of his messenger bag and handing them over to Duke.

“Shouldn’t be too much of a problem, I doubt Phil would try and cheat us any more than usual, not after that first time.” Duke said with a shrug as he accepted the contracts, already casually browsing his own contract.  Duke and Wildwing then started to head off to their private quarters.  But, not before Duke grabbed one of the open bottles of good wine and two glasses.  Wildwing couldn’t help but raise one of his eyebrows at the act.  Duke on the other hand merely smiled and said that it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

The two drakes walked back to the accommodation wing together, since their rooms were right across from each other.  Duke said goodnight to Wildwing in the corridor before opening his door.  Unfortunately, Wildwing was at his door which was right across from Duke’s, when his door opened.  He really didn’t want to see inside Duke’s room when he knew that someone was in there waiting for the older drake to reappear.  He really didn’t try and catch sight of the girl who was sitting in her underwear.  And he really wished Duke’s door had closed before the other drake had told the waiting girl exactly how he wanted her to ‘make it up to him’.  After all, Wildwing didn’t actively look at pornographic material on Earth, but he understand what Duke meant when he told Roxie to get on her knees.

At last, the doors to Wildwing’s room closed with a swish, engulfing him in privacy and darkness.  He couldn’t help but his head against the cool surface of the door and close his eyes with an exasperated groan.  It had been a long day and he hoped to block everything out.

“Rough night?” Came a sleepy, lilting voice from behind him.

“Rough day.  I am not cut out for this leadership stuff, and definitely not for corporate nonsense,” Wildwing said without taking his head off the door.

“I don’t know, I’ve always said that you would make a great leader,” The feminine disembodied voice continued, “besides, you look good in a suit.”

This statement caused the young leader to chuckle and smile.  That’s what he needed after the day he had.  With a happy sigh he moved away from the door and started to undress.  First his tie then his white shirt.  All the while not taking his eyes off the creamy brown and grey feathered duck curled up on his bed, who was continuing to watch him undress with the most earnest smile on her beak.  Her mane was spread out around her like a dark pillow and her green eyes shone in the darkness of the room.  When he finally removed his pants and put them over the chair he walked over to the bed, lifted the covers and climbed into the cocoon of warmth.  The instant he was under the covers he felt her cuddle into his firm body and snuggle into him.  Wildwing encircled his arms around her body and drew her closer to him while closing his eyes.  Just enjoying all the sensations that accompanied her.  The feel of her body, the smell of her feathers, the sound of her heart.

“I didn’t wake you, did I, Ella?” Wildwing asked.

“Not really, you know I sleep better with you next to me.  Are you going to tell me about your day?  Or are you just going to block it from memory?” Ella asked.

“It was long, pointless, boring and frustrating.  How about you, how are you feeling?” Wildwing asked the duck, placing his hand on her rounded belly.

“We’re both fine, though Ren was a handful today.  Luckily, Dive was there to help, wore him completely out and he went straight to sleep.  I hope this one isn’t going to be as much as a handful as he is, I mean she is constantly on the move.  But, Ren did read to her after dinner.  It was the cutest thing.  He curled up right next to me on the sofa and read from one of his old books.  He’s going to be a wonderful older brother, much like his father,” Ella said with a sweet smile looking into her husband’s eyes and nuzzling his lower beak.  This caused Wildwing to moan contentedly, letting his hands wander across her large stomach, feeling the fluttering of his unborn child’s movement, and joining his hand to hers.  He looked down to see their hands joined and their matching wedding bands around their left wrist.  It was a wonderful sight.

“And this one is going to be as wonderful as her mother, the most beautiful duck in the world,” Wildwing said happily, bringing her hand up to his beak to kiss it.

“More like the fattest duck in the world.  I think I’ve doubled in size.  I must look enormous!” Ella said shaking her head into Wildwing’s chest, and averting her eyes from his loving gaze.  But he wouldn’t let her, he moved his hand under her beak, causing her to look back into his face.

“No, you are, and will always be, the most beautiful duck to me.  And you get more beautiful every day.  The sight of you pregnant with my child is the most magical image I could ever think of,” Wildwing said, his beak coming closer to hers.  The thought of her beak on his was the only thing that kept him going all day and he closed his eyes in preparation for their kiss, so that the sensation was the only thing he would know at that moment.

His face hit the pillow with a shocking finality, bringing him completely back to reality.  He was so dazed that it took him a few moments to realise why he was suddenly alone in his bed.  He had no memory of getting undressed or climbing into bed, he was almost sure that his dream had been real.  He could feel her.  He tried to keep that memory in his mind, but it was already fading.

There was little chance of sleep now, and even if he did get back to sleep he couldn’t handle another dream like that.  He always dreamed of her more when one of their anniversaries came up.  This time it was the sixth anniversary of their arrival on Earth.  Wildwing looked at the clock and saw that it was just after five.  He’d be getting up in an hour and a half anyway to begin his training, so he decided to forgo the attempt to get more sleep and just start his day.  The thought of swimming many laps in the cold water of the indoor pool downstairs was a very appealing thought.  Therefore, Wildwing climbed out of his bed, grabbed his swimming gear and headed downstairs.

Duke, on the other hand, had had a far more enjoyable evening.  As there actually was someone sharing his bed.  And she really did make it up to him for taking the expensive reserve wine.  The fact that when he opened his door the first thing he saw was her sitting on his bed in the underwear he liked best was enough to make him thankful for the loss of the wine.  In fact, she spent over an hour making it up to him.  Luckily, he had always had a high libido and was ecstatic to find someone who matched it.  As well as someone who was compatible with him in bed.  It was also enough exercise to burn off all the alcohol in his system so he would wake up sober as a judge.

Unfortunately, he woke up a lot earlier than he would have liked.  When he was a thief, and the most renowned master thief in the world no less, it had been essential to be a light sleeper.  Luckily, he had always been a light sleeper, and when he became the leader of the Brotherhood it had actually saved his life on a few occasions.  It was also useful when they were still battling Dragaunus, as he could be up and ready in a matter of minutes rather than thirty, like some of his team mates.

It wasn’t anything specific that woke him up, he just woke up on his own.  When he looked at the clock he saw that it was only five thirty, and he didn’t actually need to get up for another two hours.  Duke looked over to the other side of the bed and saw Roxie fast asleep and dead to the world.  She was, without a doubt, the heaviest sleeper that he had ever met.  It was like whatever she did, she did with unwavering focus and that seemed to include sleep.  Roxie wasn’t a clingy sleeper either, she liked having her own space when she slept and would rarely snuggle into him.  Maybe that could have been what woke him up, Duke wondered, knowing there was someone else there and not feeling them next to him.  Especially since he had been thinking of Ellie during the day, and she was the clingiest sleeper in the Universe.

With a sigh, Duke rolled over and brought himself closer to Roxie’s naked body, noticing the bruises that he had once again left on her tan skin.  She was going to yell at him once again as he knew she got in trouble at work for being covered in bruises.  No one wanted a burlesque dancer who was black and blue.  But he knew that she actually enjoyed it, or else he wouldn’t do it.  He gently laid his hand on her side and began to draw her closer to him, enjoying the feeling of her smooth skin against his feathery torso.  It was the strangest sensation he had ever felt, naked skin against feathers, and she agreed with him.  He didn’t want to wake her up, but he had a desire for bodily contact.

“I was sleeping,” came the unimpressed, sleepy voice of Roxie.

“But I’m wide awake, and you’re not sleeping now,” Duke said softly, letting his hands wander over her legs.

“Stop that, I’m sleeping,” Roxie said determinedly before rolling over to look at Duke’s face.

“Can’t sleep?” Roxie asked, which Duke nodded an affirmative to.

“Thinking about your sister?” Roxie asked after a few moments pause.  Duke was sometimes a little surprised about how perceptive the girl could be.  He nodded again, closed his eyes and allowed her to sleepily hug him.

“Wanna talk about it?” Roxie asked after a few minutes.

“Nah, think I’m just gonna hit the gym, before the others wake up,” Duke said.  He then untangled himself from Roxie and proceeded to collect everything he needed for an early morning swim.  He would often hit the pool hours before everyone else woke up, so that he could swim without his patch on.  When it got wet the patch would often pull at his feathers and it was really uncomfortable.

“Want me to leave?” Roxie said without any conviction as she had buried herself deeper into the bed as soon as Duke vacated it.  The only thing really visible under the covers was a head of rainbow hair.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sweetheart, besides you haven’t slept in your own bed for four months.  Why start now?” Duke said pulling on his swimming trunks and grabbing a towel.

“You lie, it hasn’t been four months,” Roxie said with a yawn before finally succumbing to sleep once again.

“You’re right, Kid,” Duke said quietly, running his beak across her vibrant hairline, “It’s been six.”

The walk downstairs to the pool was quiet and cold, but that helped Duke and he enjoyed it.  He rarely walked anywhere in the Pond without his patch or a shirt on.  He knew that everyone else had scars due to the occupation by the Saurian Empire, especially the Flashblade brothers who spent over eight months in a Saurian prison camp, but his were very visible.  He had large scars running across his chest and back from duels he had fought in his youth.  Scars look different on ducks than they do on Earthling, Duke found.  The scar tissue couldn’t grow feathers, so there were long strips of his torso that looked like they were lacking something.  But it was the scar across his face that was the worse.  The scar started at his brow and went right to the start of his beak and completely enveloped his eye.  Despite what many people thought, Duke still retained his eye as the patch he wore acted as a false eye so he could still keep his sight.  He couldn’t see anything without his eye patch, as his eye was milky white and couldn’t focus light, the iris had been cut and had deep pink scar tissue running across it.  All in all, it was a ghastly sight, and he was sometimes rather surprised that Roxie could look at him when he wasn’t wearing his patch.

When he got to the swimming pool Duke was little stunned to find that he wasn’t alone.  It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who decided to get in some early morning exercise, though the other duck seemed to have given up.  Wildwing was currently fast asleep in the whirlpool Jacuzzi that was at the bottom of room, and it looked like he was having a very interesting dream.   At least judging by the words that were coming out of his beak.

Now, everyone knew Tanya talked in her sleep.  It was a common joke in the Pond that to find out what Tanya was working on you just had to wait till she fell asleep on the couch and then she would tell everyone.  That was also how they found out that Tanya had once had a husband, and also what happened to him.  No one said anything to her about it, as they never wanted to make her feel bad that they all knew something so personal.  It took her a year and half before she shared what had happened.

Duke was a little afraid that something similar might happen to Wildwing.  He didn’t want the young leader to give up anything too personal.  Duke knew that there were things he didn’t want to share, and he respected him for that.  After all, there were things Duke wouldn’t share with anyone either.  But he looked so peaceful, sleeping there with his head leaning back and his mask off that Duke didn’t want to wake him up.  With the mask off it was easy to remember just how young Wildwing was.

“Hey, Wing,” Duke said as he shook the young leader awake.

Wildwing began to rouse but mumbled something that was definitely not meant to be heard by Duke.  It was actually quite explicit, for Wildwing at least, and Duke couldn’t help but chuckle and shake him again.

“I ain’t gonna kiss you awake,” Duke said firmly while shaking him.

It took a few minutes but Wildwing’s eyes finally opened, though he was looking unfocusedly at Duke.  When he finally realised that he wasn’t staring into the deep green eyes of Ella, but instead a scarred face Wilding jumped back with a start.

“I know it ain’t pretty, Kid, but it’s not that bad,” Duke said, rather offended at Wildwing’s reaction.

“Sorry, I just never thought…  I assumed…  I’m sorry,” Wildwing stuttered out, finishing with a sigh.  He really didn’t know what was under Duke’s eye patch, but he didn’t expect it to be a violently scarred eye.

“That’s okay, Kid, I know it’s not that pretty,” Duke said looking around the room, trying to find something to cover it.  But there was nothing there that would do, besides he would have to take it off to swim anyway.

“Couldn’t sleep either then?” Wildwing asked, trying to help Duke feel less uncomfortable.  He knew Duke could be a little vain and would often spend a long time on his appearance, so having something so obviously disfiguring must be a sore point for his male pride.  And Wildwing felt really guilty about his reaction to it.  He must be the only person in the Pond who had seen Duke without his eye patch on.

“Yeah, don’t know why really, should’ve been worn out, if you know what I mean,” Duke said with a grin while he climbed into the Jacuzzi with Wildwing.

“Has, uh, Roxie seen you without the, you know, on?”  Wildwing asked uncertainly.

“Nah, I keep it on all night.  In fact, she’s never even seen me naked,” Duke answered sarcastically, which caused Wildwing to very embarrassed.   

“Of course she has, Wing, and she doesn’t have a problem with it.  Besides, we have bigger problems to deal with.  Like, that she’s completely commitment-phobic, who’s unwilling to admit that she’s in a relationship with another commitment-phobic.  That I feel that she would drop me in a second for someone else.  That she’s sixteen years younger than me and a completely different species.  A little scarring doesn’t seem like that big of a deal,” Duke said honestly.  He had been thinking of all this for some time, but didn’t really have anyone to talk to, but he really needed to let it out.  And it was easier to talk about things with Wildwing than anyone else in the Pond.

“I’m sorry, I guess that was stupid to ask,” Wildwing said.

“Ah, don’t worry ‘bout it.  So, why are you up this early?  And, does it have anything to do with who you were dreaming about?” Duke asked, curious as to what could have possible gotten the younger drake up at five am.

“Listen, Kid, you know you can talk to me if you want to, I’m not gonna say anything to anyone.  It might help,” Duke continued, trying to get the younger drake to open up. 

The young leader looked at the older drake, who he considered to be a friend and comrade, before sighing.  Wildwing then started to tell Duke some of the things that he had been bottling up over the last six years.  He didn’t go into details, as those details were too dear to share with anyone else.  But he realised Duke was right.  It did help.  And Duke then started to tell Wildwing more about his past and what had been bothering him as well.  It felt strange to have such a tender moment of male bonding, while sitting in a Jacuzzi tub.

“Wanna do some laps before everyone else gets up?  Bet I could swim more than you?” Duke said, eyeing the pool before climbing out.

“You’re on,” Wildwing said jovially as he climbed out of the tub as well.

 


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter

Chapter Seven

 

The day of the match against Aviary University dawned bright, clear and cold.  The entire ground had been covered in a thick layer of snow during the night which heralded that it was the start of winter and they would be in for some harsh weather for the next five months.  The beauty of the fresh snow and ice sparkling in the sun was entirely lost on the first year hockey team though.  They had spent Friday enduring one of the harshest practices they had ever seen.

The First Year team was made up of twenty eighteen year old drakes who had all just finished high school and were attending the university on an athletic scholarship.  Though, they all had to achieve some of the highest grade point averages at the university to maintain their scholarship.  These ducks knew that they weren’t going to be playing many games during their first year, at least known that really mattered.  The university hockey league ranking was based on the Main Team, which was made up of junior and senior year students.  The year teams only really played against each other to hone their skills, but every once in a while a game was lined up with another university.  This would help the coaching department decide who would go to the main team and who wouldn’t, as well as who would have the scholarship revoked and who wouldn’t.  Luckily, no one had ever had their scholarship revoked.

The day before saw the Canard and Wildwing with absolutely no free time whatsoever, as the coach, Don MacDown had insisted that if they weren’t in class then they should be at the rink for practice and drills.  This practice had lasted five hours, by which point everyone was exhausted.  He also imposed a curfew and forbid anyone for indulging in any off-ice activities that night.

“What about if one of us managed to get a date with Hot Coffee Girl?” Deck, one of the teams left defenceman said with a grin, causing the rest of the team to laugh lecherously.  Deck had been one of the few drakes that had gone back to ask Ella out a few times, even though she kept on saying no.  He obviously believed that the girl would change her mind.  He had a slightly cocky attitude as he had earned the scholarship, even though he didn’t actually need it as he was from a fairly well off family.

“Like any of you could get that girl, but if you did then I wouldn’t begrudge you a night between her legs,” Coach MacDown said with a lewd smile causing Wildwing’s blood to boil.  It seemed that it wasn’t just the student male population that was lusting after Ella.  Wildwing was about to give the coach a piece of his mind when Canard stepped in.

“I believe the girl actually has a name, and do you really think that kind of comment is appropriate?  After all, she looks like she’s barely eighteen,” Canard said dryly.  He knew that if Wildwing said anything it might risk his promotion to starting goalie, as well as his scholarship.  The coach did have a lot of power over the players who were getting a free ride.  But he also knew something needed to be said on Ella’s behalf.  For his friend had told him about what happened that night when he saved her, and that is was because she was getting a lot of unwelcomed attention that she needed help.  Canard was pained to admit that he had also begun to see Ella less as a person and more as an object.  Something pretty to look at, and a challenge to complete.  And now he felt properly ashamed that he had treated her any less than the interesting girl that she actually was.

The coach, being properly chastised by the team captain, admitted being in wrong.  He then gave all his players a long lecture about how they should actually treat females, and warned them off any of the “Puck Duckies” that hang around after the game.  And if they did give into their primal urges, then they should use protection.  But only after the game, as he didn’t want anyone distracted before they played.  The coach then posted the starting line-up, which finally and officially showed Wildwing’s name.  The coach then took the younger drake aside and explained how important this game would be for them as it would affect the university ranking.  So, when they finally arrived to suit up for the game Wildwing was extremely nervous.  He desperately wanted to impress the coaching staff.  And, there was also the worry of if Ella would show up, or if she wouldn’t show up.

“Don’t worry Wing, she’ll show up,” Canard eventually said after he watched Wildwing check his gear for the fifth time.  He had hardly ever seen his friend so nervous, and he knew that the prospect of Ella coming and being the starting goalie was making the white drake queasy.

“I doubt it, after all, she said that she was working,” Wildwing answered back quickly.  He had tried not to think about Ella too much that day, as he had more important things to worry about.  If he did well in this game he could actually be named starting goalie, which would put him in a better position for next year’s team, and the main competitive team.  He had so far impressed the coaching department but not enough be named the starting goalie, luckily no one else had either.

When the team finally made it out onto the ice Wildwing could see that the stadium was packed.  It looked like everyone from the university had come out to support the first year team for one of their biggest games.  Wildwing could see that the other four teams were in attendance on the team benches behind the home player box.  Behind them were the seats that were given to the players of the team playing.  These seats were filled with friends and family of the playing team and Wildwing could see Nosedive jumping up and down on his seat.  His vivid purple hair and yellow Central jersey standing out against the sea of green jerseys worn by the DuCaine supporters.

Nosedive had been staying at the university for a few days, as his high school was on some sort of holiday.  And, since their mother didn’t trust Nosedive not to get into trouble while he was off school and she was at work, he had been sent to his brother.  Their aunt and uncle offered to take him, but Nosedive preferred to visit Wildwing even though he was almost as strict as their aunt and uncle.  Nosedive had spent the week studying and playing hockey with Wildwing and Canard.  While they were in class he had occupied himself with TV shows and comic books, and while they were at hockey practice Nosedive had accompanied them.  He had tried to join in a few times, but the coach had made him sit down, or bring him coffee and equipment.

Wildwing couldn’t help but laugh at the exuberant display from his younger brother.  It gave him a slight confidence boast, as his brother always said he was the best hockey player that he knew.  Unfortunately, he did notice the empty seat next to Nosedive, and gave a sad sigh.  He hadn’t really expected her to come and watch him, but it would have been nice.  Hopefully though she would be a little more comfortable with him, and they might actually end up being friends.  He doubted that she would ever be anything else though.

“She might just be running late,” Canard said, also noticing the absence of a certain brown maned barista.  Wildwing nodded and took up his position defending the home goal.  Ella might not be here to watch him, but he was going to play the best game of his life anyway.  And when the puck dropped a few moments later he became completely focused on what was happening around him.

“The game would have already started by now”, Ella thought as she looked at the clock above the bookcase.  It would be pointless to go now, as it was already six fifteen and the game started at six.  Yet, she couldn’t help but finger the ticket that Wildwing had given her two days ago.  It was burning a hole in her pocket and making her fingers itchy. 

She hated having itchy fingers.  It would remind her of what she was.  She had managed to suppress the urge to lift something since she had started at the Scene.  If anything went missing Dip, who was the owner, would immediately point the finger at her.  And with good reason too, he knew all about her past.  So, she kept her fingers busy cleaning.  And re-cleaning, as the café was empty because everyone was at the game.

It always went back to the game.  It was supposed to be one of the biggest games for the first year team.  The year teams didn’t play other teams often, but every once in a while there would be a match that would help decide the university places.  And today’s game was one of those games, and she had been personally invited by one of the players and even given a ticket.  Ella felt so guilty for not attending, and she desperately wanted to go.

“You ok, Ella?  You seem preoccupied?” Dip said, as he walked into the main café from the back room carrying a crate of bags of beans to put on display.  Dip was a tan, middle-aged drake of average height and build.  He had a black mane and a very easy temperament.  He was a great person to work for, and no one every complained about working for him.  He was also very generous, he had, after all, allowed Ella to live in the apartment that he owned almost rent free.  Ella, hoped that she could one day repay him for his kindness.

“Yeah, Dip, I’m fine,” Ella answered automatically while wiping down the cake display.  She couldn’t help but look at the clock again, wishing that she was at the game instead.  She couldn’t even remember the last time she went to a hockey game, it must have been when she was about eight years old.  Hockey was such a big part of life on Puckworld, and Ella had not been able to take part in it.  She had missed so much of what life should be already.  She still didn’t know how to skate, and would constantly feel a knot in her stomach every time she walked through the park and saw everyone having so much fun on the ice.  While, she had to walk on the slightly dangerous paths.  She had tried to skate out a few times on borrowed skates, but every time she slipped and fell she could feel the eyes of everyone in the park looking at her with such pity.  After all, who didn’t know how to skate at her age.  She had never had many friends, as it was hard to trust anyone and she didn’t socialise with anyone that she met from the university.  It was beginning to get to her, as she desperately wanted something normal in her life.

“Actually, Dip, is it ok if I leave early?” Ella asked, putting her sponge into the bucket of soapy water and standing up.  She had never asked to leave early before, not in all the time that she had worked for Dip.  The only time that she left work was to go to meet her parole officer every week, but that was a standing appointment that Dip knew about and they had worked her schedule around it.  She didn’t intend to actually ask to go, but she made the impulsive decision to finally start taking part in life again.

“Um, Ella, I don’t know,” Dip started, looking at the young girl in front of him.  She was wearing her dark blue jeans and black uniform shirt.  Her mane was tied in a high ponytail and she was wearing black knee high boots.  She wore no make-up, she didn’t need it as her natural beauty shone through; making it easy to forget that the girl was on parole.  He liked her, and she was a hard worker, and he had begun to trust her against his better judgement.  Yet, she was still only seventeen, despite how mature she acted, she was still only a teenager who had had too much experience with real life and disappointment and not much experience with just having fun.

“I’m really sorry to ask, Dip, it’s just that I really want to go to the game tonight, and I haven’t been to a single game all semester.  I’ve also never left early, or taken a day off, and there’s no one here tonight.  You know no one comes in after the games, they all go to the bars rather than here.  And you have Dell, you don’t need me,” Ella rambled on, unable to stop herself when she got started, another nervous habit.  Dip just looked on and chuckled, he thought that this nervous quality was endearing to the girl.  His wife sometimes did it when she was hiding something.

“You do know you need a ticket for that game, right?” Dell said smarmily from her position preening behind the counter.  Dell was a second year historian, with a tawny complexion.  She had a blonde mane that was tied up in a high pony tail, and she was wearing rather heavy make-up for working behind a coffee shop counter.  They girl also had a huge dislike for Ella due to the amount of attention the girl was garnering, without even trying.  Especially from the hockey players.

“I have a ticket, one of the players gave me it the other day.  I promise I’ll come right back after the game, so I’ll only be gone for a few hours max.  Please, Dip,” Ella replied, ignoring the tone of Dell and her snarky scoff, and showed both her manager and co-worker her ticket.  She looked up at Dip with her big green eyes, pleading to let her leave while Dell complained about favouritism.

Dip was a little conflicted about what to do.  In his mind he kept on reminding himself that the young girl in front of him was actually a hardened criminal.  But, the paroled thief in front of him was a seventeen year old girl who had not had any opportunity to be a normal girl.  This would actually be something that a normal girl her age should be doing, instead of working a full time job for minimum wage.  As he looked at the hopeful eyes of the young girl he couldn’t help but remember the first day that he met Ella. 

The girl had shown up on the doorstep on the Scene before it opened at five in the morning, dirty and tired less than a month after the start of term.  Dip hadn’t wanted to hire her due to her recent incarceration, but she looked so pathetic that he couldn’t turn her away.  So, he had brought her on as a trial, very vigilant for any sign that the girl might return to her former lifestyle.  But she had impressed him, and his wife Petra.  She was a hard worker, who had spent the last month earning his trust. 

Dip knew that Ella would never take advantage of his generosity, and it was through his commendation that her tracking device had been removed.  He had, of course, kept Ella’s past secret from the rest of his staff, as he felt she deserved this second chance.  He had merely told them that the girl had dropped out of high school and was trying to make it on her own.  Many of the staff members thought that that was admirable, apart from some of the more petty and jealous females who worked for him.  There were also a few times when Ella had a surprise inspection from her parole officer, but luckily that female officer was very understanding and subtle.  Many thought the officer was just a social worker, who had to check on the under-age girl.

So, Ella had become more comfortable in her work place and was starting to flourish and blossom into a wonderful young duck.  Dip just wished that she would make some friends, or would actually accept one of the many offers she got every day.  She talked to a few of the older ducks who worked with her, but felt uncomfortable around anyone her own age.  There was also the fact that all the younger ducks were rather jealous of the attention that Ella had unwittingly attracted.  As a result she was rarely invited out with the other waitresses, and she didn’t feel confident enough to accept any invitation from the numerous drakes who asked her out.  It was rather disappointing, as Dip was beginning to get quite attached to the girl and was taking quite an interest in her life.  So, seeing as she had finally accepted an invitation from someone, Dip couldn’t refuse her.

“You don’t need to come back after the game, take the night off.  There really isn’t a need for three people to stand around and do nothing.  And you’ve never taken a night off before.  You will have to be here to open up with me tomorrow morning though.  So go and enjoy yourself, but be safe” Dip said with a smile to the young duck.  Dell on the other hand was furious that not only did Ella get to leave early, but that she got to go to a sold out game, for free.  And she was very vocal in her displeasure.

“Thank you so much Dip,” Ella said as she hugged the older drake.  She then grabbed her jacket and ran out the door, not bothering to change out of her work clothes as she was already late enough.  Dell was of course still complaining about blatant favouritism before Dip told her to take over cleaning the display case.

The stadium was only a ten minute walk from the Scene, and Ella did it mostly at a run.  Once she rounded the corner that lead to the main entrance she heard the cheers of the crowd and it slightly alarmed her.  That sounded like a lot of ducks, and Ella didn’t do well in crowds.  She was almost tempted to give up and go back to finish her shift when the attendant on the door spotted her and called her over, as he also worked part time at the Scene.  So, Ella braced herself and gave the other duck her ticket, who looked at the ticket curiously as he knew it was one of the players’ tickets.  But he didn’t say too much about it, only waved her in and told her to enjoy the rest of the game.

Once inside the stadium Ella became nervous again seeing the packed seats of the stadium.  It looked like every seat was taken, and she was having a hard time spotting her empty one.  That was when she spotted a familiar head of bright violet mane, and saw the empty seat next to him.  She had seen Wildwing’s younger brother a few times she started at the Scene and the boy always had a different coloured mane every time she saw him.  She thought it was endearing that his parents allowed him to express himself that way.  And since Wildwing’s younger brother was sitting there, that must mean that the empty seat next to him was her seat.

Ella quickly walked down the stairs towards the ultra violet maned drake, double checking the rows against her ticket stub as she did.  He was only five seats in on the third row back from the ice.  She steeled herself to make her way to her seat, apologising to each duck she had to unseat to reach it and when she eventually got to it she was so relieved that that little battle was over that she let out a heavy sigh.  That was when she noticed that in her haste to actually sit down, she had sat down on a bright orange backpack.

Nosedive was so focused on watching the puck and his brother defend his teams goal that he had no idea that someone had sat next to him until he heard a familiar voice ask if the bright orange backpack was his.  This, at last, took his attention off the ice and to the girl who was suddenly sitting next to him.  To say he was shocked would be an understatement, he was absolutely flabbergasted to see the hot girl from the coffee house sitting next to him, and holding up his bag.  He took it from her wordlessly, coming out of his daze when she started talking to him again.

“Hi, sorry, it’s Nosedive, right?” Ella said with a nervous smile.  Nosedive merely nodded an affirmative and continued to stare at her.

“So, uh, how are they doing?”  Ella asked, getting more nervous by the young drakes continued staring.  She then took off her light jacket so that she was only wearing her work shirt and a scarf.

“Sorry, but are you sure you’re in the right seat?” Nosedive asked, finally finding his voice.  He knew that the seat next to him was given to Wildwing for playing in the game.  And he was also sure that his brother had only given one of his two seats away, and that was to Nosedive himself.  There was also the fact that it was the hot girl from the coffee place sitting next to him, and as far as Nosedive knew his brother had yet to form a complete sentence in her presence.

“Yeah, Wildwing gave me the ticket on Thursday,” Ella replied, showing Nosedive her ticket to prove her story.  This, of course, made Nosedive laugh timidly, he was stunned that his brother had finally spoken to the hot girl.  He was even more shocked to find out that Wildwing had managed to invite her or give her his extra ticket.

“So, how are they doing?” Ella asked again gesturing towards the ice, trying to engage the young drake in conversation.  Nosedive then relaxed slightly and began to explain everything she had missed, play by play.  And giving particular detailed analysis of how his older brother had played.  He then started to point out the plays that he had learned from watching his brother and friend practice all week during the team practices.  This was a great help to Ella, as her understanding of hockey was rudimentary at best.  It was something that she wasn’t allowed during her incarceration, and she had never had the time to learn before she was locked up.  Her brother had always promised to teach her, but the skills needed for their trade always took precedent.

After a while Ella got into the game, and began cheering along with Nosedive and the rest of the crowd.  Now that Nosedive had gotten over the shock of having her sitting next to him, he became really fun to sit next to.  Ella was starting to feel relaxed and less overwhelmed then when she had entered, and she was enjoying being part of the crowd.  She also enjoyed watching Wildwing play, as he had seriously talked down how good he was.  He was so focused and skilled that he was incredible to watch, and it made her smile.  Plus, he was a rather attractive male and seeing him play was making Ella feel hot under her feathers signalling a blush that, luckily, no one could see.  The advantages of having slightly darker plumage.

Ella was having such a good time that she honestly had no idea that her mere presence had sent a ripple of whispers through the team section of the crowd.  Everyone was stunned to see her sitting in their section of the stadium, and each player that was watching the game was also trying to figure out who she was there to watch.

Meanwhile, on the ice, Wildwing had no idea that Ella had shown up.  He was so focused on stopping the puck and had, so far, not let a single one past him.  He had some spectacular saves that caused a roar of applause and cheers from the crowd.  But he still didn’t pay any attention to what was happening off the ice or who was sitting in the crowd.  He would occasionally see a flash of purple out of the corner of his eye, but he tried not to pay too much attention.

“Hey, Flashblade, isn’t that your brother sitting next to Hot Coffee Girl?” Deck asked while they were huddled together to discuss the next batch of plays.  The five other drakes on the ice then all turned instantly in the direction that Deck was looking at.  And, sure enough, there was Ella sitting next to Nosedive, who was talking quite animatedly with her.  As soon as she saw Wildwing looking up in their direction she gave a small wave and smile.  Which was returned by Wildwing, if a little bit more timidly due to the shock of actually seeing her there.

“How the fuck did you manage that?” Said the centre, looking almost green with envy.  He had asked her twice to come to one of their games, but each time she had refused.

“Hey, guys focus, we still have a game to finish.  Save your questions for later,” Canard scalded the team, but then smiled and elbowed his friend.  As soon as he had finished going over some of the plays that they would try he turned back to Wildwing.

“I told you she would come,” Canard said with a grin before skating back to his position.  Wildwing couldn’t help but look back towards his brother and Ella, and smiling.  Though as soon as the puck dropped he was entirely focused back on the game.  However, he still let himself look over and wave whenever he had saved another shot, just so he could see Ella cheer for him.  And, due to his continued perfect game, Wildwing was kept in goal all evening.

DuCaine, of course, won the game five to zero, as Wildwing hadn’t let a single shot in and Canard had put up a strong offence.  At the end of the game Wildwing had actually been named the game’s Most Valuable Player, something that only Canard had so far earned.  And Wildwing was also named starting goalie in the locker room, much to the annoyance of the other two goalies on the first year team who hadn’t had any ice time that evening. 

“I’m proud of all of you this evening, this win will reflect well on our standing in the university league table.  Have a good night tonight, and be safe,” Coach MacDown said to his team before giving a knowing smile and leaving the young drakes.  He knew that there was a party organised in one of the accommodation blocks near the stadium, and he also knew that the female population of the university would be very eager to congratulate his players.  Oh, to be young again.

“So, how the fuck did you do it?” Amby, the teams’ starting centre asked as they were all changing out of their gear.  Each drake then eyed Wildwing who was meticulously taking care of his pads.  They had all been told during breaks in play that Hot Coffee Girl had been sitting in one of Wildwing’s seat this evening.

“Yeah, she’s turned down everyone else, including everyone on the main team, how come she accepted you?” Deck asked bluntly, coming to stand next to Wildwing.  Deck was almost six foot six inches tall, and was a very well built drake.  But he had an ego, and was slightly bad tempered.

“Well, I actually refer to her by name, rather than ‘Hot Coffee Girl’,” Wildwing said coldly, taking off his large leg pads, before wiping them down.  This statement caused some yelling from the other members of the team, and almost started a fight.  Luckily, Canard intervened and stopped it escalating, telling everyone to hurry and get showered and changed, as there was a party in one of the senior student accommodation buildings that evening to celebrate their win.  The team followed Canard’s orders, as they all wanted to get drunk and celebrate with the hot Puck Duckies that were waiting for them to leave.

Once they were ready Canard and Wildwing walked out together to find Nosedive talking enthusiastically to a group of girls.  Wildwing was slightly worried that Ella had left straight after the game until he spotted her a little off to the side of the group.  She was looking slightly uncomfortable, and was fidgeting with her mane.  When she saw him approach she smiled shyly and began to fidget more with her mane.

“You were great out there,” Ella said when Wildwing stopped next to her. 

“Thanks, but it was a team effort.  Everyone played really well,” Wildwing answered humbly.  He was sometimes a little uncomfortable with praise, as all he wanted to do was his best.  But, he really enjoyed hearing praise coming from Ella.  She didn’t overdue it to massage his ego, only to give her actual opinion. 

That was when the group of Puck Duckies noticed the star of the game almost on his own.  The overly enthusiastic girls then situated themselves between Ella and Wildwing, completely blocking the quieter girl out, and began to flirt and caress Wildwing’s arms.  This made the male uncomfortable, as he knew these girls only wanted to talk to him because he was made MVP for the game.  He was trying to get away from them when he noticed that Ella had begun to walk away.  He made one last ditch effort to get away from the overly touchy girls and chased after Ella’s retreating form.

“Hey, don’t go,” Wildwing said, lightly holding onto her arm. 

“No, it’s ok, you should go to the after party.  I really did enjoy the game though.  Thanks for inviting me,” Ella said with a fixed smile.  She didn’t want to compete with anyone for someone’s affection.  Besides, she thought that those girls had more going for them than she did.

“Do you want to come with me?  I mean, us, um, everyone?” Wildwing stuttered out nervously causing Ella to giggle a little at the memory of their late night conversation.  She could see the other girls giving her dirty looks though, and the thought of being in a room full of so many ducks was a little intimidating.  But the way he was looking at her was making her insides flutter.

“Ok, I’d like that,” Ella said with a smile, causing Wildwing to stutter and smile back.  He then grabbed his kit bag from the floor, where he had dropped it earlier, and the two began to walk with the rest of the group.  

After a few minutes the rest of the group had pulled away, anxious to get to the free booze and dancefloor.  While Ella, Wildwing, Nosedive and Canard walked at a more leisurely pace talking together.  It felt strange, Ella thought, being part of a group, but she liked the feeling.  She was also enjoying Nosedive’s animated one sided conversation, as well as Canards minor reprimands.  Moreover, she was enjoying just walking with Wildwing.  It didn’t feel as awkward as the last time and she noticed that he was walking a little closer to her than he had before and it was making her heart beat faster.

Due to her incarceration she had not been able to socialise with any drakes once she hit puberty.  And when she started to work at the Scene the amount of attention she was suddenly receiving made her feel sick with nerves.  But, walking and talking with Wildwing made her feel safe.  And after a few minutes the two other drakes had walked further ahead, leaving her alone with Wildwing once again.

Once they arrived at the party Ella was bombarded with music and chatter, making her take a step back.  Everything in her body was telling her to flee back to the safety of her own apartment.  She could see the eyes of several ducks on her, and she could hear some snide whispers aimed in her direction.  This was so far outside her comfort zone, as she had spent the last seven years in such a confined place that seeing so many ducks was unnerving.  That was when she felt a comforting hand on her lower back.  She looked up to see the easy smile of her companion, who was urging her forward. 

“Don’t worry, I’m here,” Wildwing said reassuringly, gently grabbing hold of her hand and giving it a squeeze.  Ella, looked at where their hands were entwined and squeezed back, enjoying the feeling of her small hand encased in his.  She then allowed him to lead her through the crowd towards his brother and friend, who had found a seat next to the window and already had drinks in their hands.

Canard, of course noticed that Wildwing and Ella had fallen behind him and Nosedive.  He also encouraged the younger drake to walk faster, to allow his friend the opportunity to talk to Ella alone.  Nosedive had started to protest at their speed until Canard told him his plan, getting a cheesy grin from the other drake.  And when Ella and Wildwing arrived at the party, Canard could see how close they were standing, and that Wildwing was holding the girls hand when he led her over to the couch where they sat.

“Told you,” Canard said quietly to Nosedive gesturing towards the boys brother, “you owe me a twenty.”

“Happily,” Nosedive said with a grin, digging into his pocket to find his wallet.  The two had made a bet on the walk to the party over how the other two would arrive.  Nosedive said they would be talking together but nothing more, whereas Canard had said they would be slightly more friendly.  Nosedive was happy to be wrong and to lose this bet.

“What was that about?” Wildwing asked having spotted his brother handing his friend a twenty dollar note.

“Nothing, just a bet,” Canard answered, pocketing the twenty and moving over so that Wildwing could sit down.  They were sitting on a small three seater couch, and it was a tight fit.  Nosedive had decided to give up his seat to sit on the arm of the couch so that Ella could take his seat.  Wildwing sat down next to the other arm, with Ella sat in the middle, between Wildwing and Canard.  He naturally put his arm over the back of the couch, so that his body was turned toward the three ducks that he was sitting with, while Ella relaxed a little into Wildwing’s body.  Both movements were completely unconscious, but they were noticed by Canard and Nosedive who gave each other knowing smiles.  Nosedive had already grabbed a six pack of beer on the way over to the couch, so he proceeded to dish them out to the two new arrivals, and started to talk about everything that had happened at the game.

It didn’t take long for Wildwing and Ella to become completely oblivious to everyone else around them, including the two ducks that were sitting next to them.  Every once in a while someone else would come over and try to engage them in conversation, but they always ended up being excluded.  The two weren’t trying to be rude, it was just that they only really had eyes for each other and were enjoying each other’s company far too much.  They didn’t even notice when Nosedive and Canard left to dance on the makeshift dancefloor.  And since Nosedive and Canard kept on bringing them drinks whenever they came back, they didn’t need to leave the safety of the couch.  They were so engrossed in each other’s company that time started to have little meaning.

“Oh my god!” Ella suddenly exclaimed, catching sight of Wildwing’s watch on his right arm.

“What?” Wildwing asked.

“I have to be at work in like twenty minutes!” Ella said completely shocked that it was now four thirty in the morning.  Wildwing looked completely confused until he noticed what the time was as well.  He then looked around and saw that the party had actually completely wound down and that they were two of the only ducks still present or awake.  He also realised that he hadn’t seen either his brother or friend in a long time.  He couldn’t believe that he had spent the last several hours talking to Ella.

“Do you need anything from your apartment?” Wildwing asked, grabbing hold of Ella’s jacket from the back of the couch and holding it out for her to take.

“No, I actually have a complete change of clothes at work, plus there’s also a shower in the staff room,” Ella said as she slipped into her jacket.

“I’ll walk you there then,” Wildwing said grabbing hold of his large kit bag again. 

“I’d really like that,” Ella replied with a sincere smile.

It didn’t take them long to get to the Scene, or it didn’t feel like long as they talked the entire way there.  And somehow Ella’s hand had managed to wrap itself around Wildwing’s muscular arm since she kept on slipping on the new ice.  It felt nice and she really enjoyed the feeling of his strong muscles under her delicate fingers.  Wildwing actually wanted to hold her closer, but he didn’t want to push her.  They both saw that the coffee shop was lit from inside, signalling that someone was already inside, starting the opening process.

“Thanks for walking me, I really had a good time tonight,” Ella said once they arrived at the front door.

“Me too, do you, uh, want to do this again sometime?  I don’t mean the all night thing, just the hanging out thing?  I mean if you wanted to do the all night thing again, I’d like that too.  And not just with me, I meant with the others too, if you wanted to?” Wildwing stuttered out, feeling embarrassed that he couldn’t actually ask her out on a date.

“Yeah, I really would,” Ella said looking up into Wildwing’s dark eyes.  They had actually exchange numbers earlier in the evening.  Nosedive has asked for it, since he wanted to send her his recommendations of comic books that he thought she just had to read.  And when, she had her new, second-hand, phone out she had taken Wildwing’s number as well.

“Great,” He said softly, moving closer to her, staring into her green eyes again.  He could feel his body start to move down of its own violation.  While Ella felt herself raise slightly onto her toes, bringing her beak higher in preparation for the kiss she was about to receive.

“Excuse me, but are you coming in?” a sudden male voice interrupted causing the two teens to move away from each other quickly.  Ella looked over to see Dip looking at the two of them, standing on his doorstep with a smile and mirth dancing in his eyes.  She became suddenly embarrassed to be caught and moved quite far aware from Wildwing.  She really didn’t expect to be in such a position and was actually kind of glad that Dip managed to break it up.  She was starting to feel like she was losing control, and that was something that she couldn’t allow.  She had no idea how to let someone in or how to trust them.  But there was just something about his sincerity, and sweetness that was starting to break down her walls.

“I’ll see you later?” Wildwing asked, hopeful of a positive answer.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Ella said with a warm smile, “I better get in, you know, work.”

Wildwing nodded, but was far too nervous to try to kiss her again.  Lucky for him that Ella took the lead, and reached up and embraced him in a quick but tight hug.  It was almost so quick that Wildwing barely got his arms around her waist before she broke away and waved goodbye.  He, of course, let her go with a smile and a wave.  He watched her walk into the coffee place and wave through the glass, before he waved back and turned to leave.

“So, good night then Ella?” Dip asked as he watched the girl waving to the tall, white drake who walked her to work at five in the morning.

“Yeah, yeah it was,” Ella said dreamily as she watched the retreating back of the drake.  He would occasionally look back and wave at Ella again.  It was sickeningly adorable.  Once he was out of sight Ella turned around with a big grin on her face and headed towards the back room to shower and get ready for a day of work with no sleep.  But she didn’t seem to care.

By the time Wildwing arrived back at his accommodation block the sun had come out.  He actually had no idea which route he had taken, he was still slightly dazed about the night he had just had.  When he walked past the front desk the Residence Advisory on duty gave him a funny look, but didn’t say a word.  He had seen enough drakes walk through the door of the male dormitory at ridiculous o’clock in the morning to know not to care anymore.  And Wildwing didn’t say anything either, just continued to smile goofily all the way up to the room he shared with Canard.

He was very careful to be quiet once he got onto his floor, as it was five thirty in the morning.  So Wildwing quietly took off his boots in the elevator and walked over to his door.  He opened the door as stealthily as he could, and peered into his room to see his friend fast asleep on his bed, and a lump that must be his brother fast asleep on the floor.  Unfortunately, Wildwing had forgotten in his euphoric state that Nosedive was not that tidy, and what he thought was his brother was actually a lump of hockey gear and the bags that Nosedive had brought with him.  His brother was in fact asleep flat on the floor just behind it.

Wildwing stepped over the lump to put his full weight on something soft which then screamed in fright.  The shock of the squishy thing and the scream was enough to make Wildwing lose his balance and topple onto the floor, sending his kit bag flying onto the other bed to wake the other sleeping drake.  Who then jumped out of bed, startled and took the bed side table, lamp, and bottle of water with him.

“What the hell, Wing?  Are you just getting in?  It’s after five am!” Canard said, once he had righted himself and turned on the light.  He had taken a quick glance at the clock once he had set it back on the table.  When the room was fully lit he could see his friend tangled up in the sheet and limbs that belonged to Nosedive, both were looking rather sheepish.  Especially when, woken up by the commotion, several of the other drakes who lived on that floor had come to see what was going on.  It took some very stern words from both Canard and the RA to get everyone back to bed.

“Seriously, you just got in?” Canard asked with a shocked smile.

“You Son of a Saurian!  I can’t believe you scored with that hot babe in one night!  I’m seriously impressed!”  Nosedive called from the floor, after he righted his makeshift bed.  He had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face and was about to demand details of his brothers epic conquest.

“What!  No, we talked, just talked!” Wildwing said, outraged that his brother had jumped to that conclusion.

“You talked?”  Nosedive asked in disbelief.

“Until five in the morning?” Canard asked in equal disbelief.  Wildwing nodded and confirmed that all he and Ella did was talk.

“Did you at least get a goodbye kiss?” Canard asked, settling back into his bed but still looking at his friend.

“Well, almost, her boss walked out and she kind of got a little shy again.  But, I did get a goodbye hug,” Wildwing said ecstatically, causing the other two drakes to look at each.  Canard then reached over to his bedside drawer, pulled out his wallet and handed Nosedive back his twenty without a word.  The two drakes then rolled back over to go to sleep, leaving Wildwing looking very confused at the exchange.

**Author's Note:**

> So, after many years, I have decided to try and finish this story that has been stuck in my head since I was twelve. So many years ago.
> 
> I kept on wandering who was left behind and what they would think.
> 
> Italics are in another language, which to me would sound like French.


End file.
